THE ALPHA'S ESCAPE
1610 Words
The footsteps outside Harel’s chamber grew louder.
One voice rose above the others.
“By order of the royal family, Alpha Harel Blackthorn is to be taken into custody immediately.”
Harel stood motionless beside the window.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he looked at Mira.
“How many guards?”
“Too many for you to fight your way through,” she whispered. “And they are not ordinary castle guards. Some of them are royal soldiers.”
Harel’s eyes narrowed.
“So they came prepared.”
Mira nodded.
“They knew exactly where you would be.”
A cold realization settled over him.
Someone had told them.
Someone inside the castle knew everything he had been doing.
The door shook under another heavy knock.
“Alpha Harel! Open this door!”
Harel glanced at the silver crescent pendant hanging beneath his clothes. Selene’s words echoed in his mind.
Your mother is alive.
For years, he had believed Seraphina Blackthorn was dead.
Now, everything he thought he knew about his family was beginning to collapse.
He could not allow himself to be arrested.
Not yet.
If the royal family wanted him silenced, there had to be something they were desperate to hide.
Harel turned toward Mira.
“Is there another way out?”
Mira hesitated.
“There is one.”
“Show me.”
She crossed the room and moved toward a large wooden cabinet. After pushing it aside, she revealed a narrow opening in the stone wall.
Harel stared at it.
“I thought this passage was sealed.”
“It was,” Mira replied. “My father told me about it years ago. It connects to the old servants' tunnels.”
Another loud knock came from the door.
“We are coming in!”
Harel looked at Mira.
“Go.”
“What?”
“You can't come with me.”
Mira shook her head.
“I am not leaving you.”
“Mira, listen to me. If they find you with me, they'll accuse you of helping me escape.”
“I don't care.”
“You should.”
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Mira stepped forward.
“Your father trusted you for a reason. And I trust you too.”
Harel's expression softened.
“Thank you.”
The door suddenly cracked.
Harel entered the passage.
“Mira, make them believe I escaped through the window.”
She nodded.
“And Harel…”
He turned.
“Come back.”
Harel gave her a determined look.
“I will.”
The cabinet closed behind him.
Seconds later, the chamber door burst open.
Royal soldiers rushed inside.
“Where is Alpha Harel?”
Mira stood near the window.
“He jumped.”
The captain hurried toward it and looked down.
“Impossible. There are guards below.”
Mira shrugged.
“Then perhaps you should ask the guards.”
The captain turned suspiciously toward her.
“You're lying.”
Before Mira could answer, a horn sounded from the courtyard.
The guards rushed toward the window.
“Search the grounds!”
Mira remained perfectly still.
But beneath her calm expression, her heart was racing.
She knew Harel had only a short time.
The tunnel was darker than Harel expected.
He moved carefully, guided only by the faint light coming through cracks in the old stone walls.
Dust covered the floor.
The passage smelled of damp earth and age.
He continued forward until he reached a fork.
One path led upward.
The other disappeared into darkness.
Harel stopped.
Then he noticed something carved into the wall.
A black crescent.
His hand moved instinctively toward the silver pendant beneath his shirt.
The symbol was identical.
He stepped closer.
Below the crescent were three words.
THE BLOOD REMEMBERS.
Harel's breathing slowed.
“What does that mean?”
A voice answered from behind him.
“It means you were never meant to forget.”
Harel spun around.
Selene stood in the darkness.
“You again.”
She smiled faintly.
“You have a talent for finding places where you shouldn't be.”
“How did you get here?”
“I know these tunnels better than you do.”
Harel approached her.
“Did you know the royal soldiers were coming?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you warn me?”
“Because I needed to know whether you would trust your instincts.”
Harel frowned.
“This isn't a game.”
“No,” Selene said quietly. “It is much more dangerous than a game.”
She looked toward the black crescent.
“You found it.”
“What is it?”
Selene's expression changed.
“Your family has been connected to that symbol for generations.”
Harel stared at her.
“My father never mentioned it.”
“Your father spent years trying to keep you away from it.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew what would happen if the wrong people discovered what you inherited from your mother.”
Harel stepped closer.
“My mother. Where is she?”
Selene looked directly into his eyes.
“Alive.”
The word struck him harder than any weapon.
“Where?”
“North.”
“How far?”
“Far enough that we cannot reach her tonight.”
Harel clenched his fists.
“Then we go tomorrow.”
Selene shook her head.
“No. You cannot go north yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because you are being watched.”
Harel looked behind him.
“By whom?”
“Everyone.”
Before Harel could respond, a distant sound echoed through the tunnel.
Footsteps.
Selene's face became serious.
“They found the passage.”
Harel looked toward the darkness.
“How?”
“Someone must have told them.”
Again, the same conclusion.
A traitor.
Inside the castle.
Perhaps inside his own family.
Harel and Selene moved quickly down the tunnel.
After several minutes, they reached an old iron door.
Selene pulled out a small key.
Harel recognized it immediately.
“The silver key.”
She nodded.
“Your father gave it to me years ago.”
“You knew my father for that long?”
“Yes.”
The door opened.
Beyond it was a small underground chamber.
There was a table, several old maps, and a wooden chest.
Harel walked toward the chest.
“What's inside?”
Selene looked at him.
“Answers.”
Harel opened it.
Inside were documents bearing the Blackthorn crest.
He picked up the first one.
It was dated fifteen years earlier.
His eyes widened.
The name at the top was unmistakable.
SERAPHINA BLACKTHORN.
Underneath it was a statement:
Subject presumed dead. Location unknown.
Harel's hands trembled.
“She wasn't dead.”
“No.”
“Why did my father let me believe she was?”
Selene's voice softened.
“To protect you.”
Harel looked through the remaining documents.
Then he found something else.
A sealed royal document.
He broke the seal.
His expression changed.
“What is it?”
He handed it to Selene.
She read it.
Her face went pale.
“What?”
Selene looked up.
“This changes everything.”
“What does it say?”
She hesitated.
Then she whispered,
“Your father wasn't the first Blackthorn Alpha they tried to remove.”
Harel stared at her.
“Who was?”
Selene slowly turned the document around.
At the bottom was an old signature.
Alpha Adrian Blackthorn.
Harel's grandfather.
And beneath his name was a single sentence:
The royal council ordered his removal from power.
Silence filled the chamber.
Harel finally understood.
His father's death was not an isolated event.
It was part of something much older.
Something that had been happening to the Blackthorn family for generations.
Then another sound came from the tunnel.
This time, it was closer.
Selene closed the chest.
“We have to leave.”
Harel looked at the documents.
“We can't leave these behind.”
“We won't.”
She handed him a small bundle.
“Take them.”
Harel tucked the documents beneath his coat.
As they moved toward another exit, Harel noticed one final piece of paper lying on the table.
It had only one sentence.
He picked it up.
His blood ran cold.
IF HAREL DISCOVERS THE TRUTH, DECLARE HIM DEAD.
He stared at the words.
Selene saw the paper.
“They planned this long before tonight.”
Harel folded it slowly.
“Then let them think they've won.”
Selene looked at him.
“What are you planning?”
Harel's eyes hardened.
“If they want me dead…”
He turned toward the exit.
“…then perhaps it's time for the Alpha to disappear.”
And somewhere above them, the royal bells began to ring.
One.
Two.
Three times.
The entire castle fell silent.
Then a messenger shouted through the corridors:
“By order of the royal council…”
A pause.
“Alpha Harel Blackthorn has escaped.”
Another voice followed.
“Search every territory.”
Then came the words that changed everything.
“If he is found…”
“Bring him back dead or alive.”
Harel heard every word from beneath the castle.
He looked at Selene.
“They've already decided I'm dead.”
Selene nodded.
“And now?”
Harel touched the silver crescent beneath his shirt.
“Now we find my mother.”
Neither of them knew that, far beyond the northern territory, a woman was standing beneath the moonlight.
A woman with the same silver crescent around her neck.
She looked toward the south.
And whispered:
“Harel… they have finally come for you.”
To be continued…
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