Chapter 6: Secrets Behind The Castle Walls
694 Words
The dungeon fell into a heavy silence.
Kael's question lingered in the air.
"Who knew you were coming here?"
Aria stared at him in disbelief.
"You think I stole the Moon Stone?"
Kael didn't answer immediately.
His expression remained unreadable.
"I don't know what to think."
The words hurt more than Aria expected.
"I've been running for my life," she whispered. "Why would I steal something I didn't even know existed?"
Rowan stepped forward.
"My Alpha, she's telling the truth. We never mentioned the Moon Stone in front of her."
Kael nodded slowly.
"I know."
He turned toward the guards.
"Search the entire castle."
"No one leaves until the Moon Stone is found."
The guards hurried away.
An hour later...
The castle buzzed with tension.
Every room had been searched.
Every servant questioned.
Nothing.
The Moon Stone had vanished without a trace.
Kael stood in the council chamber, studying a map spread across a long oak table.
"It wasn't an ordinary thief," Rowan said.
"The vault door wasn't forced open."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"Which means someone opened it willingly."
"An insider."
A heavy silence followed.
Someone inside Blackthorn Pack had betrayed them.
Meanwhile, Aria stood alone on the balcony outside her room.
The moon hung high above the mountains, bathing the castle in silver light.
She wrapped her arms around herself.
"I shouldn't have come here."
The castle felt beautiful...
Yet she still felt like an outsider.
A soft voice interrupted her thoughts.
"You're thinking of leaving."
Aria turned.
Kael stood in the doorway.
"I don't belong here," she admitted.
"You barely know me."
"Neither do I."
He stepped beside her.
"But every instinct I have tells me you're not my enemy."
She looked at him.
"Then why did you question me?"
"Because an Alpha questions everyone."
Their eyes met.
"And because if someone is using you..."
"I intend to stop them."
For the first time since meeting him, Aria saw something beneath his cold exterior.
He wasn't heartless.
He carried the weight of protecting everyone around him.
Suddenly...
A scream echoed through the castle.
"Help!"
Kael's head snapped toward the courtyard.
Without another word, both of them ran.
They reached the training grounds to find dozens of warriors surrounding a young guard lying unconscious.
His body was covered in strange black markings.
The castle healer knelt beside him.
"I've never seen anything like this."
The guard's eyes suddenly flew open.
Completely black.
He grabbed the healer's wrist with unnatural strength.
"They're here..." he whispered.
"They've already entered the castle."
Before anyone could react, his body went limp.
Dead.
A chilling silence swept over the crowd.
Rowan examined the markings.
"My Alpha..."
"This symbol."
Kael looked down.
His face darkened.
"The Blood Fang Order."
"They marked him before killing him."
A messenger rushed into the courtyard.
"Alpha!"
"We found another body!"
"And another!"
Panic spread across the castle.
Whoever had infiltrated Blackthorn Pack was eliminating guards one by one.
As everyone rushed toward the west wing, Aria noticed something strange.
A little girl stood alone beneath an old willow tree.
She couldn't have been more than eight years old.
She wore a simple white dress and smiled gently at Aria.
"No one else can see me," the girl said softly.
Aria frowned.
"What?"
The child pointed toward the mountain behind the castle.
"The Moon Stone wasn't stolen."
"It was returned."
"Returned where?"
The little girl's smile faded.
"To the place where your mother hid the second one."
Aria's heart skipped.
"My... mother?"
Before she could ask another question, the child disappeared like mist in the wind.
"Aria?"
Kael's voice came from behind her.
She spun around.
"What happened?"
"There was a little girl..."
She pointed toward the tree.
"...right there."
Kael looked at the empty space.
"There hasn't been a child living in this castle for years."
A cold breeze swept across the courtyard.
At that exact moment...
The castle bell rang once.
Twice.
Then a third time.
Rowan's face turned pale.
"My Alpha..."
"No one rings the third bell."
Kael's voice became deadly calm.
"The third bell means only one thing."
He slowly drew his sword.
"The enemy..."
"...is already inside the castle."
- Writer
