The Alpha's Contract Luna

Chapter 10

Roman arrived at Nadia's suite in less than a minute.

He hadn't bothered with a jacket. His shirt was untucked on one side, and his hair looked as though he'd run his hands through it several times on the way upstairs.

Nadia was sitting on the edge of her bed, clutching her phone.

"Tell me exactly what happened," he said.

"I woke up, my hand started glowing again, and then I saw my mother."

Roman sat beside her, leaving enough space between them that she didn't feel crowded.

"Was it a dream?"

"I don't think so."

"Did she speak to you?"

"Yes."

He waited.

Nadia took a breath. "She told me not to let anyone take me to the sanctuary."

Roman's expression changed.

She noticed immediately.

"You know something."

"I found a photograph tonight. Your mother was standing outside a stone building with my father. The archive refers to it as a Mooncrest sanctuary."

Nadia stared at him.

"You found that before I called you?"

"Yes."

"And you were going to tell me when?"

"Tomorrow morning."

She gave him a look.

"That's a terrible answer."

"I know."

"Why do you keep doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Deciding when I'm ready to hear things about my own family."

Roman looked down at his hands. He could have defended himself. He could have explained that the discovery had raised more questions than answers, or that he hadn't wanted to frighten her in the middle of the night.

None of those explanations would change the fact that she'd had to drag the truth out of him again.

"You're right," he said. "I should have told you as soon as I found it."

Nadia seemed prepared for an argument. His admission caught her off guard.

"Okay," she said after a moment. "Thank you."

He nodded toward her hand.

"Can I see the mark?"

She hesitated, then held it out.

The crescent was faint now, almost invisible beneath the bedroom light. Roman studied it without touching her.

"Does it hurt?"

"It burned earlier. Right now, it feels warm."

"Anything else?"

"Only that my mother apparently knows how to appear in my head and issue warnings without explaining herself."

"That sounds frustrating."

"You're learning."

This time, Roman did smile.

It was small, but it eased some of the tension in the room.

Then Nadia remembered the expression on her mother's face.

"She looked scared," she said quietly. "I've spent years wondering why she left. Now I see her for a few seconds, and she's still trying to run from something."

Roman didn't know what to say.

He wanted to tell her that they would find Elena. That everything would make sense eventually. But he had already made too many promises without knowing whether he could keep them.

So he said the only thing he could honestly offer.

"We'll find out what happened to her."

Nadia looked at him.

"Together?"

"If that's what you want."

She nodded.

"Then show me the photograph."

Darius joined them in Roman's study twenty minutes later.

The photograph lay on the desk beside a map of upstate New York. Roman had marked several possible locations based on the incomplete archive records.

Nadia leaned over the desk.

The building looked smaller than she had imagined. It stood among thick trees, its stone walls partly swallowed by vegetation. The crescent carved above the entrance was unmistakable.

"That's where I saw her," she said.

Roman studied her face.

"You're sure?"

"Yes. The doorway, the carving, the trees. It was exactly like this."

Darius pointed to a section of the map.

"We believe the sanctuary is somewhere near the old Mooncrest territory, north of the Blackthorn lands. The records are incomplete, so we haven't confirmed the exact location."

"How long would it take to get there?" Nadia asked.

"Depending on the road conditions, a few hours," Darius replied.

"Then we should leave early."

Roman shook his head.

"Not until we know what we're walking into."

Nadia straightened.

"Roman, my mother appeared in front of me and told me not to let anyone take me there. That suggests the place matters. It doesn't mean we should ignore it."

"I'm not suggesting we ignore it."

"You're suggesting we sit here until the council makes another decision about my life."

"I'm trying to keep you alive."

"And I'm trying to understand why my mother disappeared."

They stared at each other across the desk.

Darius looked down at the map, wisely choosing not to participate.

Roman finally spoke.

"We go at first light. Darius will come with us, and we'll take two members of the pack who know the area. We don't split up, and if I say we leave, we leave."

Nadia raised an eyebrow.

"You're very good at making agreements sound like orders."

"Occupational hazard."

"Work on it."

"I'll add it to the list."

Darius cleared his throat.

"There's another problem."

Both of them turned toward him.

"Someone accessed the archive after I left last night. They searched the Mooncrest files and tried to open the original agreement."

Roman's face hardened.

"Who?"

"The records show an access code belonging to a council member. I haven't confirmed which one."

"Was anything taken?"

"Not that I can tell."

Nadia folded her arms.

"So someone knows we're looking."

"Someone has known for a while," Roman said. "The question is what they're trying to hide."

By breakfast, Nadia had decided that the Blackthorn Estate needed better coffee.

She sat at the kitchen island with a mug in front of her, watching Darius pack equipment into a canvas bag.

"I have to ask," she said. "Does everyone here drink coffee that tastes like burnt wood?"

Darius glanced at her mug.

"That's Roman's preferred blend."

"That explains a lot."

Roman entered the kitchen in a dark sweater and black trousers.

"I can hear you."

"Excellent. Then you can hear my complaint."

He opened a cupboard and took out another mug.

"We have different coffee."

"Why didn't you say so?"

"You looked committed to the first one."

Nadia laughed before she could stop herself.

Roman glanced at her, and for a brief moment, his expression softened. She had been so tense the night before that he'd almost forgotten what her laugh sounded like.

He wanted to hear it again.

The thought was inconvenient.

He poured his coffee and joined them at the island.

Darius placed a small flashlight, a first-aid kit, and two bottles of water beside Nadia.

"Take these."

"Thank you."

"And comfortable shoes."

She looked down at her boots.

"These are comfortable."

"Good. The ground near the sanctuary may be uneven."

Roman slid a phone across the counter.

"This has a direct line to me and Darius. The signal may be unreliable, so don't depend on it as your only means of communication."

Nadia picked it up.

"You really do prepare for everything."

"Not everything."

She glanced at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He met her eyes for a second, then looked away.

"It means some things still surprise me."

She wasn't sure whether he was talking about the sanctuary or her.

For once, she decided not to ask.

They left the estate shortly after seven.

The first part of the drive was quiet. The road wound through wooded hills, passing small towns and stretches of countryside where the morning mist hung low over the fields.

Nadia watched the scenery through the passenger window.

New York City felt very far away. Her office, her apartment, the case files waiting on her desk all of it seemed to belong to another version of her life.

"Do you miss it?" Roman asked.

"What?"

"The city."

"Manhattan? Yes. I miss knowing where I am and what I'm supposed to be doing."

He kept his eyes on the road.

"You'll get back to it."

"You sound certain."

"You have a job, a home, and a life outside this mess. None of that disappears because your family has secrets."

She turned toward him.

"That's surprisingly sensible."

"I have my moments."

"Don't get used to the praise."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

A comfortable silence settled between them.

Then Nadia asked, "Did you know your father well?"

Roman's hands tightened slightly around the steering wheel.

"Well enough."

"That's not an answer."

"No," he said after a moment. "It isn't."

She waited.

"He was a good Alpha. A difficult father. He believed that if he carried every problem himself, the people he loved wouldn't have to suffer."

Nadia looked back at the road.

"Did it work?"

"No."

He said it so plainly that she turned to face him again.

Roman's expression remained fixed on the road, but she could see the strain around his eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said.

He nodded once.

It wasn't much, but it was more than he'd offered about his father before.

She let the subject rest.

They found the turnoff shortly before ten.

Darius, who had been following them in a second vehicle, parked behind Roman's SUV. The road ahead was little more than a narrow track between trees.

Roman stepped out and scanned the woods.

"Stay close."

Nadia joined him, pulling her coat tighter around herself.

"I'm not planning to wander off."

"Good."

"Although, if something jumps out at me, I'm reserving the right to run."

"That's fair."

Darius approached with a small pack over his shoulder.

"We'll have to walk the rest of the way. The vehicles won't make it through."

The three of them followed the track into the trees.

The deeper they went, the quieter the woods became. Nadia could hear her own footsteps on the damp ground, the occasional snap of a twig, and the faint rustle of leaves overhead.

Then she saw the stone building.

It stood in a clearing, partly hidden behind overgrown shrubs. Moss covered the walls. Several stones had fallen from the roof, and the entrance was dark.

Nadia stopped.

"This is it."

Roman moved beside her.

"Are you all right?"

"No."

She appreciated that he didn't ask her to pretend otherwise.

The mark on her hand began to warm.

She curled her fingers into a fist.

"Something is happening again."

Roman reached toward her, then stopped.

"Do you want me to hold your hand?"

The question surprised her more than the glowing mark.

"Yes," she said.

He took her hand.

The warmth spread through her palm, but this time it wasn't painful. The silver crescent brightened, and the carved symbol above the sanctuary entrance seemed to catch the light.

A low vibration passed through the ground.

Darius stepped back.

"Roman?"

"I feel it."

Nadia stared at the doorway.

For a second, she thought she heard her mother's voice again.

Not a warning this time.

A name.

"Elena," she whispered.

The sanctuary doors shifted inward with a deep groan.

Dust drifted into the sunlight.

Roman moved in front of Nadia, his body tense.

"Stay behind me."

She caught his sleeve.

"Wait."

Something inside the building had caught her attention.

At the far end of the dark entrance stood a stone pedestal. On it rested a small wooden box, untouched by the dust around it.

Beside the box lay a photograph.

Nadia stepped forward before Roman could stop her.

The photograph showed her mother holding a baby.

Nadia knew the blanket wrapped around the child. She had seen it in the few family photographs her father had kept.

She reached for the picture with trembling fingers.

On the back, in handwriting she recognised from old birthday cards and letters, were six words.

If Nadia returns, tell her everything.

Nadia's breath caught.

"Roman."

He stood beside her now, staring at the photograph.

Before either of them could say another word, footsteps sounded behind them.

Darius turned sharply toward the entrance.

A man stood at the edge of the clearing, dressed in a dark coat. Nadia recognised him from the council chamber.

One of Alistair's council members.

He looked from Roman to Nadia, then toward the open sanctuary doors.

His expression was grim.

"You're too late," he said.

Roman's eyes narrowed.

"Too late for what?"

The man swallowed.

"To keep her from waking it."

Beneath Nadia's feet, something struck the inside of the stone floor.

Once.

Twice.

Then a third time.

And from deep within the sanctuary came a sound that was unmistakably a growl.