The Contract He Signed
1814 Words
“I signed it.”
For one second, I heard nothing.
Not Silas.
Not Vanessa crying.
Not the wind moving through the broken windows.
Only those three words.
I signed it.
I looked at Adrian.
My mate.
My rejected mate.
The man I had loved for years.
The man who had already broken me once tonight.
“You signed away my child?”
His face twisted.
“Elena, listen to me.”
“No.”
“It wasn't supposed to happen like this.”
I laughed.
The sound came out broken.
“Which part? Rejecting me? Lying to me? Or signing a contract that gives away a baby I didn't even know I could have?”
Adrian stepped closer.
“I didn't know there would be a child.”
Silas smiled.
“Technically true.”
Adrian turned toward him.
“Shut your mouth.”
Silas ignored him.
I looked at the contract again.
The words blurred.
FIRSTBORN HEIR OF THE AWAKENED SILVER CROWN SHALL BE SURRENDERED TO THE COUNCIL.
My stomach turned.
“You knew about this before the ceremony.”
Adrian swallowed.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
He hesitated.
“Three years.”
My chest tightened.
Three years.
That matched what he had admitted before.
He had known something about my family.
Something about the Silver Crown.
But this?
“You knew they were watching me?”
“Yes.”
“You knew they wanted my bloodline?”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
His voice cracked.
“I thought silence was the only way to keep you alive.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
“No. It's what you tell yourself.”
His face went pale.
Behind me, Vanessa whispered, “Elena…”
I turned.
She was still tied to the chair, blood running down her arm.
Silas rested one hand on the back of her chair.
“Perhaps we should continue this touching reunion somewhere more private.”
“Let her go.”
He smiled.
“No.”
My hands began glowing.
His smile disappeared.
“If you use that power inside the circle, the silver beneath her will activate.”
I froze.
“What does that mean?”
“Her heart stops.”
Vanessa started crying harder.
“Don't, Elena.”
I lowered my hands.
Silas smiled again.
“Good girl.”
A growl came from the hallway.
Lucian.
He stepped into the room.
Luna and Mara appeared behind him.
Silas sighed.
“I specifically asked you to come alone.”
“I've never been good at following instructions,” I said.
Lucian's gaze landed on the contract.
Then Adrian.
His expression became terrifying.
“What did he sign?”
Silas answered happily.
“A transfer agreement.”
Lucian moved.
Adrian moved too.
I stepped between them.
“Not now.”
Lucian stopped.
Barely.
His eyes were almost black.
“You agreed to surrender her child?”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“I thought it was an empty clause.”
Silas laughed.
“An Alpha signing documents he doesn't understand. How reassuring.”
Adrian ignored him.
“The Council told me Elena's bloodline was almost extinct. They said the chance of her awakening was nearly zero.”
“And you believed them?”
“They threatened my pack.”
Lucian's voice became colder.
“So you chose your pack over her.”
Adrian looked at me.
“Yes.”
That answer hurt more because it was honest.
At least this time he didn't hide behind an excuse.
I looked away.
Luna moved closer to me.
Her voice was low.
“You need to leave.”
“Not without Vanessa.”
“She knew more than she told you.”
“I know.”
“Then let her face the consequences.”
I stared at her.
“No.”
Luna's jaw tightened.
“You still don't understand what people will do to you.”
“And you still don't understand that I won't become cruel just because everyone else is.”
Something in her face softened.
Silas clapped once.
“How inspiring.”
I turned toward him.
“You have your audience. What do you actually want?”
“Your cooperation.”
“With what?”
“Come with us.”
“No.”
“Then Vanessa dies.”
“No.”
His smile vanished.
“You think this is a negotiation?”
“I think you need me alive.”
That made him pause.
Good.
I stepped closer to the silver circle.
“You've watched me since birth. You waited for my bond to awaken. You needed Adrian to reject me. You needed my power.”
Silas said nothing.
“So you can't kill me.”
“Perhaps not.”
“But you can lose control of me.”
A flicker of anger entered his eyes.
I smiled.
“You didn't plan for that, did you?”
Luna looked at me.
So did Lucian.
I could almost feel them realizing what I was doing.
Keep him talking.
Learn more.
Buy time.
Silas straightened.
“You have Selene's arrogance.”
“My mother knew you?”
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
“You knew her.”
“I studied her.”
“What does that mean?”
“Your mother was the greatest biological anomaly the Council had seen in generations.”
My hands curled.
“She was a person.”
“To you.”
Lucian growled.
Silas glanced at him.
“To history, perhaps. To science, she was something else.”
“What did you do to her?”
Silence.
My heart pounded.
“What did you do to my mother?”
Silas smiled.
“Ask your King.”
I looked at Lucian.
His expression turned hard.
No.
Not another secret.
“Lucian?”
“Elena, this isn't the place.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Apparently no place is ever the place.”
Silas enjoyed every second.
“Tell her.”
Lucian ignored him.
I stepped toward Lucian.
“You said you were there the night she died.”
“Yes.”
“Did the Council experiment on her?”
His silence answered first.
My stomach dropped.
“Did they?”
“Yes.”
Luna went completely still.
Even she hadn't known.
“How long?”
Lucian looked at Silas.
“Years.”
Silas smiled.
“Not years. Generations.”
I felt sick.
“What?”
“The Council has studied House Ardyn for over a century.”
He looked at Luna.
“And House Kane.”
Lucian's eyes darkened.
Silas continued.
“You still think royal bloodlines are about crowns and old ceremonies.”
He shook his head.
“They are about power.”
I looked at Luna.
“Our power.”
“Your inheritance.”
His gaze moved between us.
“Twins were never supposed to happen.”
Mara whispered, “Because the power divided.”
Silas smiled.
“Partially.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“One of you carries the Moon's Voice.”
Luna looked at me.
“We both do.”
“No.”
Silas's smile widened.
“You carry two different halves.”
Silence.
My pulse accelerated.
“What halves?”
He pointed at Luna.
“She commands submission.”
Then he pointed at me.
“You awaken blood.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
“Exactly what you've already done.”
The wolves bowing.
The visions.
The silver healing.
The attack creatures reverting.
My stomach tightened.
Silas looked at my abdomen.
“And possibly much more.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“The baby.”
Silas nodded.
“The first child conceived after the awakening could carry both traits.”
Lucian stepped forward.
“Could?”
Silas smiled.
“We've never had a successful case.”
My blood went cold.
“Case?”
He looked at Adrian.
“Your contract gave us the first.”
Something inside me snapped.
Silver light burst from my hands.
The symbols around Vanessa flared.
She screamed.
I immediately stopped.
“No!”
Silas laughed.
“Temper.”
I wanted to kill him.
But Vanessa's life was attached to that floor.
Think.
I looked at the circle.
Symbols.
Silver lines.
Blood channels.
Then I noticed something.
One symbol near Vanessa's left foot was damaged.
A c***k ran through it.
Not much.
But enough.
Mara saw me looking.
Her eyes followed mine.
Good.
She understood.
I looked back at Silas.
“What happens if I refuse to go?”
“You leave me with disappointing options.”
“Such as?”
“Taking the child later.”
“You don't even know if there is one.”
Silas smiled.
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because the contract activated.”
I froze.
“What?”
He held up the document.
The signature line had changed.
Silver light moved through Adrian's name.
Then a second line appeared beneath it.
HEIR CONFIRMED.
My breath stopped.
Adrian stared.
“No.”
Silas's expression became almost reverent.
“Congratulations.”
My hand moved to my stomach.
I hated myself for it.
But this time, the fear felt real.
Lucian moved beside me.
“We're leaving.”
Silas shook his head.
“Not with Vanessa.”
Luna's eyes shifted toward Mara.
Mara moved.
Fast.
She threw her knife.
It struck the damaged symbol.
The silver circle shattered.
Vanessa screamed.
Then nothing.
She was alive.
I ran.
Lucian attacked Silas.
Luna cut Vanessa free.
Adrian threw himself between Silas and me despite his wound.
Everything happened at once.
Silas pulled a gun.
Adrian hit his arm.
The shot went into the ceiling.
Lucian slammed Silas against the wall.
“Where are the others?”
Silas laughed.
“You still think I came alone?”
The building shook.
A siren began screaming.
Red lights flashed.
Luna went pale.
“We need to leave.”
“What is that?”
“Containment alarm.”
Silas smiled through blood.
“You should listen to your sister.”
The floor beneath us vibrated.
Then came the sound.
Metal doors opening.
Dozens of them.
From below.
Lucian grabbed Silas by the throat.
“What did you release?”
Silas looked at me.
His smile widened.
“Her mother's failures.”
My entire body went cold.
“What?”
A howl rose from beneath the building.
Then another.
Then another.
Not wolves.
Something worse.
Silas looked into my eyes.
“Your mother wasn't our only Ardyn experiment.”
The wall behind him cracked.
A pale hand pushed through the concrete.
Then a woman's voice whispered from the darkness below:
“Elena…”
I stopped breathing.
No.
That voice.
I knew that voice.
I had heard it in dreams since I was six years old.
My mother's voice.
“Run,” it whispered.
Then something beneath the floor screamed my name.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD