The Alpha's Contract Luna

Chapter 11

Nobody moved.

The growl came again, deep enough to vibrate through the stone beneath Nadia's boots.

She stepped back from the pedestal.

"Please tell me that was an ordinary animal."

Darius looked toward the dark corridor beyond the entrance.

"Nothing about this place is ordinary."

"That wasn't the reassurance I was looking for."

Roman shifted in front of her. His shoulders had gone rigid, and his eyes were beginning to turn silver.

The council member remained at the entrance.

"Get away from the doorway," he said.

Roman's head snapped toward him. "You followed us here. You don't get to start giving orders."

"I came because I knew what would happen if she entered the sanctuary."

"And you thought the best way to help was to keep that information to yourself?"

The man ignored him and looked at Nadia.

"My name is Gideon Vale. I'm a member of the council, and you need to listen to me."

Nadia folded her arms, although she would have preferred to put several feet between herself and the mysterious growling.

"That's a difficult request from a man who has spent the morning following us through the woods."

"I wasn't following you to harm you."

"Wonderful. You're only suspicious."

Another growl rolled through the building.

Gideon went pale.

"You've activated the seal."

Nadia looked at her hand. The crescent was shining again.

"I didn't do anything."

"You touched the threshold."

"I touched a photograph."

"The photograph was placed there for you."

That silenced her.

Roman took a step toward Gideon.

"Explain yourself. Now."

Gideon glanced toward the sanctuary, then back at them.

"The Mooncrest family guarded this place for generations. The council believed the sanctuary had been sealed after Elena disappeared. We thought the seal would remain closed as long as the bloodline was gone."

Nadia's stomach tightened.

"But I'm not gone."

"No," Gideon said. "You aren't."

"And what's inside?"

He hesitated.

"Something the first Mooncrests were sworn to protect."

The floor shook.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

Darius drew a small silver blade from his belt. Nadia stared at it.

"Is that a knife?"

"Yes."

"Against whatever is growling beneath the floor?"

"It's better than nothing."

"That is deeply comforting."

Roman almost turned toward her, but the next sound stopped him.

A sharp c***k split the room.

The stone pedestal shifted.

The wooden box slid to the floor.

And a narrow line of silver light appeared between two slabs of stone near the back wall.

Roman grabbed Nadia's hand.

"We're leaving."

"No."

He stared at her.

"Nadia, the building is shaking."

"I can see that. But my mother left something here, and whatever is happening seems connected to me. We can't just walk away."

"We can come back with more people."

"And give the council another chance to get here first?"

Roman's jaw tightened.

She knew that look. It was the one he wore when he wanted to argue until the other person gave up.

Unfortunately for him, she was familiar with that particular tactic.

"Roman, I'm not asking you to let me walk into a hole in the ground alone. I'm asking you to help me find out what's happening."

He looked at her hand.

The silver mark pulsed beneath her skin.

Ares stirred violently inside him.

Protect her.

I'm trying.

Then listen to her.

Roman let out a slow breath.

"Stay beside me. Whatever happens, don't touch anything else until we understand what we're dealing with."

"Agreed."

Darius looked between them.

"I'd like it recorded that this is the strangest morning I've had in at least a month."

"Keep walking, Darius," Roman said.

"Gladly."

The silver light led them to a narrow passage behind the sanctuary's main chamber.

The entrance had been concealed beneath a carved stone panel. Now the panel had moved aside, revealing a staircase that descended into darkness.

Nadia stood at the top, holding the photograph of her mother.

"I remember this place," she said.

Roman looked at her sharply.

"You've been here before?"

"Not exactly. I saw it when the mark started glowing. In my vision, my mother was standing near a doorway. I couldn't see what was behind her."

Gideon moved closer.

"Elena brought you here when you were a baby."

Nadia turned.

"How do you know that?"

"I was younger then. I was assigned to watch the sanctuary."

"And you remember me?"

"I remember your mother carrying a child. I remember the council arguing about what to do with you."

"What did they decide?"

Gideon looked down the staircase.

"Your mother disappeared before they could agree."

Nadia felt anger rise in her chest.

"Did anyone try to find her?"

"Some did."

"Did you?"

He didn't answer quickly enough.

She gave a humourless laugh.

"Of course."

Roman placed a hand lightly against her back.

It was a small gesture, and he removed it when she shifted. Somehow, that made it easier to accept.

"Let's hear the rest of the story," he said quietly. "Then we can decide what to do with it."

Nadia nodded, though she wasn't ready to forgive Gideon.

They descended the staircase.

The air grew colder with every step. Strange symbols had been carved into the walls, each one surrounded by a thin silver outline. Nadia couldn't read them, but as she passed, they seemed to brighten.

At the bottom stood a circular chamber.

In its centre was a stone basin filled with clear water. The ceiling above it opened into a narrow shaft, allowing a beam of daylight to fall across the surface.

On the far wall, someone had carved a crescent moon surrounded by several smaller symbols.

Nadia walked toward it.

The mark on her hand grew warm.

"Don't touch the wall," Roman warned.

"I'm not planning to."

She stopped a few inches from the carving.

Then a voice rose from the basin.

"Nadia."

She froze.

It was her mother's voice.

Not a memory. Not a dream.

It sounded as though Elena were standing on the other side of a closed door.

Nadia stepped closer.

"Mum?"

The water rippled.

A woman's face appeared on its surface, pale and blurred at first. Then the image sharpened.

Elena Mooncrest looked exactly as Nadia remembered her from photographs, though her eyes seemed brighter, almost silver.

Nadia's breath caught.

"Oh my God."

Roman moved beside her but said nothing.

Elena looked directly at Nadia.

"If you're seeing this, then the seal has opened."

Nadia dropped to her knees beside the basin.

"Mum, where are you?"

The image flickered.

"This message was made many years ago. I don't know when you'll find it, or whether I'll be alive when you do."

Nadia pressed a hand over her mouth.

Elena continued.

"The council will tell you that your bloodline is dangerous. They'll tell you the Mooncrests once brought disaster upon the packs. Some of what they say is true, but they will leave out the part that matters."

The image blurred, then returned.

"The Mooncrest gift was never meant to control wolves. It was meant to protect the bond between them and the people they chose to stand beside."

Roman's expression changed.

Ares went still.

Elena's voice became urgent.

"Something happened here before you were born. A bond was broken, and the damage spread beyond our family. Your father helped me hide you because the council wanted to use your blood to repair what they had destroyed."

Nadia felt as though the room had tilted.

"My father?"

She barely recognised her own voice.

Roman turned toward her.

Neither of them had expected that.

Elena's image flickered again.

"If you have found this, Nadia, then the old seal is weakening. You must find the first record before the council does. It will tell you what happened to the original Alpha and why the Mooncrest line was sworn to protect this place."

The water began to darken.

"Whatever you do, don't let them bind your gift to another wolf. The consequences—"

The image broke apart.

The basin went still.

Nadia stared at the water.

"No."

She leaned forward.

"Mum? Please. What consequences?"

Nothing answered.

She struck the stone beside the basin with her palm.

"Come on!"

Roman crouched beside her.

"Nadia."

"She was right there."

"I know."

"She knew I would find this. She knew."

Her voice broke, and she looked away, angry at herself for letting it happen in front of strangers.

Roman didn't tell her to calm down. He didn't promise that everything would be fine.

He simply stayed beside her.

After a moment, Nadia wiped her face with the back of her hand.

"My father helped her hide me."

"That's what she said."

"Then why did he never tell me?"

Roman had no answer.

He was beginning to understand how little either of them knew about the people who had raised them.

Darius found the first record behind a loose stone panel near the entrance to the chamber.

It was a leather-bound book, its cover worn almost smooth. The silver symbol on Nadia's hand glowed as soon as he lifted it.

"Careful," Gideon said. "That may be the original record."

Darius handed it to Roman.

Roman opened the book.

The first several pages were filled with names, dates, and descriptions of ceremonies that had taken place centuries earlier. Most of the writing was faded, but one passage remained clear.

Roman read it aloud.

"When the first Alpha's bond was broken by force, the wolf turned against its own blood. The Mooncrest keeper sealed the wound, but the seal could not last forever. One day, a child born of the hidden line will return, and the truth must be restored before the broken bond awakens again."

Nadia stared at him.

"The broken bond."

Roman turned another page.

A drawing showed two wolves standing opposite each other, connected by a silver line. Between them was the same crescent symbol that marked Nadia's hand.

Beneath the drawing, someone had written a name.

The Hollow Alpha.

Darius frowned.

"I've never heard of that."

"Neither have I," Roman said.

Gideon looked as though he had seen something he desperately wanted to forget.

Nadia noticed.

"You know what it is."

"No."

"Don't lie to me."

Gideon looked at Roman, then back at Nadia.

"The council has records of an Alpha who lost his mate bond centuries ago. His wolf became unstable, and the pack around him collapsed. The story says he died."

"Then why are you frightened?"

"Because the records don't agree on how he died."

Before Nadia could ask another question, a sharp c***k echoed through the chamber.

The silver line in the stone wall split.

A wave of cold air rushed up the staircase.

Roman grabbed Nadia's arm and pulled her away from the basin.

From somewhere beneath the chamber came a voice.

Not Elena's.

Not the strange voice Nadia had heard before.

This one sounded old, angry, and painfully close.

"Who has opened my prison?"

Roman's eyes turned completely silver.

Ares surged forward, forcing a growl from Roman's throat.

The Hollow Alpha.

Nadia clutched the leather book against her chest.

The voice came again.

"Bring me the Mooncrest heir."

The silver mark on Nadia's hand burned so fiercely that she cried out.

And then the floor beneath the basin began to break.