Chapter 7 - The Hidden Archives
1014 Words
Blackwood Manor had changed.
Not because its walls were different.
Because Allegra was.
She no longer felt like a guest wandering through unfamiliar hallways. Over the past few weeks, she'd learned the routines of the estate. She knew which wolves woke before sunrise, which servants baked fresh bread every morning, and which corridors Lucien disappeared into whenever something troubled him.
More importantly...
She had stayed.
Not because anyone forced her.
Because she'd made the choice herself.
The Crimson Court was hunting the last living Danvers, and until they discovered why, Blackwood Manor was the safest place for both her and her family.
Still...
Questions kept piling up.
And Lucien wasn't answering them fast enough.
---
"You've been staring at that book for ten minutes."
Allegra looked up from the library table.
Lucien stood nearby with a cup of black coffee in one hand.
"I've only read one page," she admitted.
"I noticed."
"I'm distracted."
"By?"
She closed the old journal.
"The portrait."
Lucien's expression didn't change.
"Aurelia Danvers."
"The pendant."
Silence.
"The Crimson Court."
Another silence.
She sighed dramatically.
"You know, talking to you is like interviewing a brick wall."
"I've been called worse."
"I bet you have."
A tiny smile appeared on his face before disappearing again.
"I owe you answers."
"Finally."
"But not here."
---
Lucien led her down a staircase she'd never seen before.
The steps spiraled deep beneath Blackwood Manor.
The air became colder with every level.
Stone walls replaced polished wood.
Ancient torches burned with blue flames.
"This place is under the mansion?"
"For nearly four hundred years."
"Nobody told me."
"Nobody besides the Alpha knows it exists."
They reached a pair of enormous iron doors.
Lucien pressed his palm against a silver symbol carved into the center.
The doors slowly opened.
Allegra's eyes widened.
Books.
Thousands of them.
Ancient scrolls.
Maps.
Weapons.
Portraits.
The underground chamber looked more like a forgotten kingdom than a library.
"What is this?"
"The Hidden Archives."
---
Hours passed.
They searched through dusty journals and centuries-old records.
Most contained stories about Alpha bloodlines.
Others described ancient wars.
None mentioned the Danvers family.
Until...
"I found something."
Allegra carefully opened a torn leather journal.
Most of the pages had been burned.
Only a few sentences remained.
"When the moon and blood become one..."
"The forgotten heir shall awaken..."
"Neither wolf nor vampire shall claim the throne..."
"Only the child of both worlds..."
The rest of the page was missing.
Lucien slowly took the journal.
"I've never seen this before."
"What does it mean?"
"I don't know."
"You always say that."
"Because it's true."
He stared at the words for several seconds.
Someone had deliberately destroyed the rest of the book.
Which meant...
Someone had wanted those answers to disappear.
---
Above them...
Footsteps echoed.
Lucien's head lifted instantly.
"What?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he quietly extinguished every torch in the room.
Darkness swallowed the archives.
Allegra's heartbeat quickened.
"Lucien?"
"Don't move."
The iron doors creaked open.
Someone had entered.
A flashlight swept across the room.
Whoever it was...
They knew exactly where they were going.
Lucien whispered,
"Stay behind me."
She did.
A shadow crossed between the bookshelves.
Then another.
Not one person.
Two.
Both dressed entirely in black.
One quickly grabbed an old journal from a locked cabinet.
"They found it," the stranger whispered.
"We have to leave."
Before they could escape—
Lucien stepped into the light.
"I don't think so."
The room fell silent.
The intruders froze.
One immediately drew a silver blade.
The other smiled.
"We wondered how long it would take."
"You've made a mistake."
"No, Alpha."
The stranger tilted his head.
"You did."
Without warning, the lights went out again.
Metal clashed somewhere in the darkness.
Allegra ducked behind a bookshelf.
She heard footsteps.
Grunts.
Then...
Nothing.
When the emergency lights flickered back on...
The intruders were gone.
So was the journal.
Lucien stood perfectly still.
His shirt sleeve had been sliced.
A thin line of blood ran down his forearm.
"They escaped?" Allegra asked.
"They planned this."
"They knew about the archives."
"Yes."
"How?"
Lucien didn't answer immediately.
His gaze swept across the room.
Only four people knew the entrance.
Him.
Adrian.
Mrs. Evelyn.
And...
His expression darkened.
"There is a traitor."
---
That evening, the pack gathered in the great hall.
Nobody spoke.
Lucien stood before them with the calm authority every wolf recognized.
"Someone betrayed this pack."
The room became deathly quiet.
"No one leaves the estate."
His voice echoed across the hall.
"No one travels alone."
Adrian stepped forward.
"You think the spy is here?"
"I know they are."
Allegra looked around.
Every face seemed nervous.
Every expression looked suspicious.
Friends glanced at one another with uncertainty.
Trust began to c***k.
Exactly as their enemies intended.
---
Later that night, Allegra couldn't sleep.
She stepped outside onto the eastern balcony.
Moonlight covered the forest.
"It's beautiful."
Lucien's voice came from beside her.
"You should stop doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Appearing out of nowhere."
"I walk."
She laughed softly.
"You always say that."
He rested his arms on the stone railing.
For several moments, neither of them spoke.
Then Allegra looked at him.
"You blame yourself."
"For what?"
"The journal."
"The traitor."
"The attacks."
Lucien's eyes remained fixed on the trees.
"If someone inside this pack has betrayed us..."
His jaw tightened.
"...then I failed them."
She gently placed her hand over his.
Without thinking.
Without planning it.
Lucien looked down.
Their hands remained together for only a few seconds.
Neither moved.
Neither spoke.
Finally...
He turned his hand over and lightly squeezed hers.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
Allegra smiled.
"You don't have to carry everything alone anymore."
For the first time in years...
Lucien almost believed her.
Neither of them noticed the pair of crimson eyes watching from deep within the forest.
The hooded figure smiled.
"The Alpha has become attached."
Another voice answered.
"Should we strike now?"
"No."
The figure's smile widened.
"First..."
"Let the traitor finish his work."
Somewhere inside Blackwood Manor...
Someone loyal to Lucien was already planning his downfall.
- Writer
