Chapter 5: “The Ashford Library”
1269 Words
The Ashford ruins were quiet. Too quiet.
No birds. No wolves. Just wind moving through broken stone.
Kael led me through the collapsed gate. “Stay close. The wards here are old. They bite if you’re not Ashford blood.”
“I’m not Ashford,” I said.
“You’re with me,” he replied. “That’s enough for now.”
He didn’t explain. He just took my hand and walked. The mark on my neck cooled the second we passed the gate. Like it recognized this place.
The Pack house was burned out. Black walls. No roof. But behind it stood another building. Smaller. Intact.
“The library,” Kael said.
It looked like a church. Stone walls, no windows. One heavy oak door with silver carvings. A crescent moon wrapped in vines.
The same mark as on my neck.
My hand went to my throat. “That’s…”
“Your mark,” Kael finished. “The first Luna of Ashford made it. Five hundred years ago.”
He stopped in front of the door. “This place was sealed after the attack. To keep the records safe.”
“Can we get in?”
Kael pulled out a key. Old. Iron. “Yes. But only once.”
He slid the key in. The door groaned open.
Inside was dark and cold. Shelves from floor to ceiling. Books. Scrolls. Maps. All covered in dust, but not burned.
I took a step in and the torches on the walls lit on their own. Silver flame. No heat.
“Moonfire,” Kael said. “Luna magic.”
I walked slowly down the aisle. My fingers brushed the spines. They hummed under my touch.
“Look for the Bloodline section,” Kael said. “Left wall. Back corner.”
I found it. One shelf. Ten books. All bound in white leather.
I pulled one out. _Luna of Ashford: Vol I_.
I opened it. The pages were blank.
“Of course,” I muttered. “Blank.”
Kael came up behind me. “Not for you.”
He took my hand. Pressed my palm flat to the page.
The mark on my neck flared. Hot.
Ink spread across the paper like it was being written right now.
_“Ella Moore. Daughter of no wolf. Bearer of the last mark. You were hidden, not broken.”_
I gasped and pulled back. “It knows my name.”
“It knows Luna blood,” Kael said quietly.
I turned the page. More writing appeared.
_“When rejected, the Luna sleeps. When hunted, she wakes. Her wolf is white. Her power is choice.”_
“Choice?” I looked up at Kael. “What does that mean?”
He didn’t answer. He was staring at the next line.
_“She will not be bound by a false mate. The bond must be given, not taken.”_
My chest tightened. Marcus. The false mate bond.
So that’s why he felt nothing. Because I was never supposed to be his.
I kept reading. There was a map folded into the book. I opened it. Ashford territory. And deep in the mountain, a red circle.
“Underground chamber,” Kael said. “Sealed tomb.”
“Of the first Luna?”
He nodded. “If the records are right, her bones are there. And her weapon.”
“Weapon?”
“A staff. Made of moonstone. Only a Luna can hold it without burning.” He looked at me. “If you’re the last Luna, it will call to you.”
A sound.
We both froze.
Not from inside. From outside.
Boots. On gravel.
Kael’s knife was out in a second. He blew out the moonfire with one breath. Darkness swallowed us.
“Don’t move,” he whispered.
I nodded. My heart was pounding so loud I was sure they could hear it.
Voices. Muffled.
“Search the library. Alpha says she was seen heading here.”
Scouts. Blackstone scouts.
“Two of them,” Kael breathed in my ear. “Armed.”
I pressed my back to the shelf. The book in my hands was shaking.
The door creaked open.
Torchlight cut through the dark.
“Check the back,” one scout said. “If she’s here, we drag her back. Alive.”
Alive. Not safe. Not free.
Kael’s hand found mine in the dark. He squeezed once. _Wait._
Footsteps. Closer.
The first scout passed our aisle. He didn’t see us. We were in the shadow between shelves.
The second scout stopped. Right in front of us.
He frowned. Sniffed the air. “I smell something. Omega. Fear.”
My breath caught.
The mark on my neck burned.
Light.
Silver light leaked from under my cloth. Just a sliver. But in the dark, it was like a beacon.
The scout’s eyes widened. “There!”
Kael moved.
He didn’t shift. He didn’t need to. One hand clamped over the scout’s mouth. The other… he didn’t hurt him. He just pressed two fingers to the man’s temple.
The scout’s eyes rolled back. He dropped, unconscious.
The first scout heard the thud. “Jaren?”
Kael looked at me. “Run. Now.”
We bolted.
I clutched the book to my chest. We tore through the aisles, toward the back door.
“Stop!” the scout yelled.
We burst out into the cold air.
Kael didn’t slow. He pulled me toward the trees.
Behind us, a howl. The scout had shifted.
“Go!” Kael shoved me forward.
I ran.
My legs burned. The book was heavy. But I didn’t drop it.
A growl. Too close.
Kael stopped. Turned.
The scout-wolf lunged.
Kael met him mid-air. They hit the ground rolling. Fur. Teeth. No blood. Kael wasn’t trying to kill. He was holding him back.
“Ella, keep running!” he shouted.
I didn’t.
I stopped. Turned.
The mark on my neck was on fire. The book in my hands was glowing.
“Kael!”
He looked up.
The scout-wolf broke free and came at me.
Time slowed.
I raised the book. Not to hit. I didn’t know why.
“Stop,” I said.
My voice wasn’t mine. It was deeper. Older.
Silver light exploded from the book. From me.
It hit the scout-wolf like a wave.
He yelped and skidded to a stop inches from me. He scrambled back. Eyes wide. Whining.
Then he turned and ran.
Silence.
Kael stared at me. Breathing hard. “What did you do?”
I looked down at my hands. The light was gone. The book was closed. Normal.
“I… I don’t know,” I whispered. “I just told him to stop.”
Kael came to me. He didn’t touch me. He just checked my face. My neck. “You’re okay?”
I nodded. Shaking.
He exhaled. “That was Luna power. Command. Rare. Very rare.”
I clutched the book tighter. “They’ll come back. With more.”
“Yes,” Kael said. “Which is why we’re not staying here.”
He looked at the map in my hand. At the red circle.
“The chamber,” he said. “If the weapon is real, we need it before Darius does.”
I looked back at the ruins. At the library.
For the first time since the rejection, I wasn’t scared.
I was angry.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s go.”
Kael nodded. He took the lead again.
Behind us, the library door swung shut on its own.
And the silver moonfire inside flared once…
…like it was watching us go.
- Writer
