THE ALPHA'S WOLF IS MY ENEMY

Chapter Eight: My Father's Voice

My father's voice was still in my head.

I could hear the exact way he used to say my name when I was little, soft at first, as if he was afraid that speaking too loudly would frighten me. I hadn't heard it in sixteen years, yet I recognized it immediately.

"Nora."

I stared at the hole in the floor.

Cassian was watching me.

"What did you hear?"

I didn't answer.

My mother had already understood from my face.

"It was him," she whispered.

Cassian turned toward her. "Who?"

"My husband."

The words seemed to hit him harder than anything else that had happened that night.

He looked at me again.

"Your father?"

I nodded.

Cassian took a step closer. "Nora, tell me exactly what you heard."

I hesitated.

My wolf had warned me not to trust Rook. Now my father's voice had told me not to trust Cassian.

I didn't know what frightened me more, the possibility that they were both right or the possibility that neither of them was.

"He said your name," I finally told him.

Cassian's expression tightened.

"What else?"

I looked at my mother.

"He told me not to trust you."

Cassian didn't react immediately.

My mother closed her eyes.

I expected him to become angry. Instead, he looked toward the floor.

"That's what he told you?"

"Yes."

He nodded slowly.

"Then we need to find out why."

I wasn't expecting that answer.

"You believe me?"

"I've spent the last few hours learning that almost everything I believed about my family was wrong. I'm not going to start deciding which impossible things are true and which aren't."

There was something honest in his voice.

I wanted to trust it.

I didn't.

The creature beneath the floor made another sound.

My mother grabbed my arm.

"Don't go near it."

"I'm not planning to."

"You are."

I looked at her.

"How do you know?"

"Because you're looking at the hole the same way you used to look at locked doors when you were a child."

I almost smiled.

"I don't remember doing that."

"You used to believe every locked door had something behind it."

"And you always told me to leave them alone."

"Because most of the time, there was something behind them."

Cassian looked between us.

"You two can argue about childhood memories later. We need to get out of here."

He walked toward the passage.

I followed.

My mother couldn't.

The chains around her wrists were still attached to the wall.

Cassian stopped.

"I'll break them."

She shook her head.

"You can't."

"I can."

"They aren't ordinary silver."

"I know."

"They are tied to the chamber."

Cassian looked at the chains again.

"What does that mean?"

"If you break them, the chamber comes down."

He stared at her.

"How do you know?"

"Because Silas told me."

Cassian's expression hardened.

"Silas has been keeping you here for sixteen years."

"Yes."

"And he comes down here?"

"Sometimes."

"Why?"

My mother looked at me.

"To make sure she was still asleep."

I felt cold.

"You mean my wolf?"

She nodded.

"He could feel when she tried to reach you."

"How?"

"I don't know."

"You're always saying you don't know."

My voice came out sharper than I intended.

My mother didn't get angry.

"I know what happened to you, Nora. I don't know every detail of how he did it."

I looked away.

I wanted answers, but I was beginning to understand that nobody in this chamber had all of them.

Not even my mother.

Cassian crouched beside the chains.

"There has to be another way."

"There is."

She looked at me.

"The door."

I frowned.

"What door?"

"The one you opened."

I looked toward the passage.

"The hidden door?"

"No. The door beneath it."

I didn't understand.

My mother pointed toward the symbol carved into the wall.

The crescent moon with three claw marks.

"You touched that when you came down here."

I nodded.

"It opened the passage."

"It opened the first passage."

She looked at the floor.

"There is another one."

I walked toward the symbol.

Cassian followed.

"Don't touch anything yet," he said.

I stopped.

He looked at me.

"Until we know what we're dealing with."

I almost argued, but there was no point. He was right.

I examined the wall.

At first, I saw nothing.

Then I noticed three small marks beneath the symbol.

One looked like a crescent.

The second looked like a wolf's eye.

The third was almost completely worn away.

I placed my fingers near it without touching.

The voice returned.

My father's voice.

You have to remember the order.

I pulled my hand back.

"What did he say?" Cassian asked.

"He said I have to remember the order."

My mother nodded.

"Your father taught you that."

"I don't remember."

"You weren't supposed to."

I looked at her.

"What does that mean?"

She took a breath.

"When you were six, your father realized Silas was watching you. He knew he couldn't protect you forever. So he taught you something."

"What?"

"A way to open the old sanctuary."

Cassian frowned.

"What sanctuary?"

My mother looked at him.

"The place where the first wolves were bound."

I stared at her.

"Why would my father teach me how to open it?"

"Because he believed you would need to go there one day."

"Why?"

"Because your wolf was taken there."

The room seemed to shrink.

I touched the wall.

This time, nothing happened.

I looked at the three marks.

"What's the order?"

My mother shook her head.

"I can't remember."

I stared at her.

"You can't remember?"

"Silas used something on me."

"What?"

"Memory magic."

Cassian looked at her sharply.

"That's real?"

"Unfortunately."

I thought about the photographs.

The missing years.

My own memories that felt like pieces of someone else's childhood.

"Can it be reversed?"

"Sometimes."

"How?"

My mother looked at Cassian.

"That's what his father was trying to discover."

Cassian's face changed.

"My father knew about memory magic?"

"He knew more than Silas wanted him to know."

"Where is he?"

"I told you. I don't know."

Cassian stood.

"Then we're going to find him."

My mother looked at him sadly.

"You may not want to."

"Why?"

"Because the man you remember as your father may not be the man you're expecting to find."

Before Cassian could respond, the floor shook again.

The creature beneath us growled.

This time, something struck the stone from below.

A crack opened beside my foot.

I jumped away.

The wall behind my mother began to vibrate.

The chains around her wrists lit up.

She cried out.

Cassian rushed toward her.

"Marissa!"

The silver chains tightened.

My mother fell against the wall.

I ran to her.

"Stop!"

"I can't."

"Do something!"

Cassian grabbed one of the chains.

The moment his fingers touched it, he jerked back.

His palm was burned.

"Don't touch them."

I looked at his hand.

The skin was already red.

My mother was breathing hard.

"It's coming."

"What is?"

She looked at the floor.

"The guardian."

The crack widened.

A massive black paw pushed through.

The creature pulled itself upward.

It was much bigger than Rook.

Its body was covered in scars, and the silver markings across its face seemed to move when it breathed.

But this time, I wasn't afraid of it.

I heard its voice.

Daughter.

I froze.

My mother looked at me.

"What did it say?"

I couldn't speak.

The creature lowered its head until its pale eyes were level with mine.

You carry his blood.

My heart started racing.

"Whose?"

The creature looked toward Cassian.

Then back at me.

The Alpha who opened the gate.

Cassian went pale.

"My father?"

The creature didn't answer him.

Instead, it looked at me again.

And the wolf who guarded you.

I felt something inside my chest twist.

"Rook?"

The creature nodded.

My wolf finally spoke.

Now you understand.

"No," I whispered. "I don't."

The creature moved closer.

Cassian stepped between us.

It growled.

Rook's voice immediately filled my head.

Move.

I looked at Cassian.

"Rook says move."

Cassian looked confused.

"Why?"

I didn't know.

But I trusted my wolf enough to step aside.

The creature passed him.

It stopped in front of my mother.

For a moment, nobody moved.

Then the creature lowered its head.

My mother reached out with her chained hand.

She touched its face.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

The creature closed its eyes.

I stared at them.

"You know each other."

My mother nodded.

"I thought it was dead."

Cassian looked at her.

"What is it?"

She looked at me.

"It was your father's wolf."

My breath caught.

Cassian stared at the creature.

"My father's wolf?"

The creature opened its eyes.

And somewhere beneath the mountain, another voice answered.

Silas.

"Marissa."

My mother froze.

I heard his footsteps above us.

He was coming down.

And this time, he wasn't alone.