Shadows of the moon - Book 2 in the Moonlight series

Chapter 18: broken covenants

I woke the next morning to find myself alone in bed, the space beside me cool and empty. For a moment, I lay there, staring at the ceiling, the morning sunlight streaming through the cracks in the curtains. The quiet was a stark contrast to the night before, but the lingering warmth of Ryland’s presence—the soft hum of the mate bond—still clung to me like the memory of a dream.

Exhaling softly, I threw the covers back and swung my legs over the side of the bed. My body felt heavy with the weight of everything ahead, but there was no room for hesitation anymore. Not now. Not when Shaun and Chelsea were out there, preparing for something I couldn’t afford to ignore.

I stepped into the shower, the water scalding against my skin, but it did little to wash away the tension coiled deep in my chest. I let the heat run over me for a few extra minutes before turning it off and grabbing a towel, the steam curling around me as I dried off and slipped into a pair of tracksuit pants and a loose T-shirt. Functional. Comfortable. No energy wasted on appearances today.

As I headed downstairs, the faint murmur of voices reached my ears, low and clipped. My footsteps slowed as I approached, the sound pulling me toward my dad’s office. The door was cracked open just enough to let the voices slip through, their tones sharp and tinged with urgency.

“We need to talk about Shaun,” Darren said, his voice calm but brimming with restrained fury.

The name hit me like a physical blow, a cold weight settling in my stomach. I paused in the hallway, my hand resting against the doorframe, listening as the conversation continued.

“Shaun didn’t just escape,” Ryland said, his voice low and steady, but vibrating with a controlled intensity that made my wolf stir beneath my skin. “He planned it. Every move, every detail—he’s had years to prepare for this. He’s been waiting. And now, he’s out there, one step ahead of us.”

“I can’t believe that piece of s**t is her biological father,” Ryland spat, his tone sharp with barely contained rage. The way he said it, the venom in his voice—it made my chest tighten, though I wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t pity. It wasn’t even anger directed at me. It was something deeper, something raw and unyielding. His need to protect me.

“Trust me, I feel the same way,” Darren replied, his voice like steel. “But let me make one thing very clear. Scarlett is my daughter. More than she was ever his. And I will kill him for what he’s done to her. For what he’s done to this family.”

That was when I pushed the door open, stepping into the room. Every head turned toward me—Ryland, Darren, my mom, Kara, Griffin, SJ, Wayne, and Jaco. The weight of their gazes pressed down on me, but I held my head high, my back straight, even as my chest tightened under the weight of the conversation.

“And Chelsea,” I said, my voice softer but no less steady. “She’s still out there too. She’s with him.”

Ryland’s jaw clenched at my words, his golden eyes narrowing slightly. I could feel the subtle shift in his energy, the way his wolf bristled just beneath the surface. It was both reassuring and infuriating—the intensity of his protectiveness wrapping around me like a cloak I didn’t ask for but couldn’t deny.

“Morning, beautiful,” he said, his voice softening just enough to brush against me like a warm breeze. “Sorry. I didn’t want to wake you—you needed the rest.”

I managed a small nod, my voice quieter as I replied, “It’s okay. I think it’s best we get this over with.” My tone sharpened slightly as I straightened my shoulders and took another step into the room. “Which means we have two threats to deal with. Not just Shaun, but his people—the hunters, the rogues still kept in captivity. And who knows how many others he’s broken. We can’t afford to underestimate him. Not anymore.”

The room shifted, the tension thickening like a storm cloud ready to burst. Kara sat beside me, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her gaze sharp and unrelenting. “It’s more than soldiers,” she said, her voice cutting through the room like a blade. “You don’t understand what he’s capable of—what he’s been building. He doesn’t just want power. He wants control. Total control.”

“What do you mean?” Darren asked, his tone calm but edged with quiet intensity.

Kara hesitated, glancing at me briefly before continuing. “Shaun was working on something bigger than just forcing wolves to shift or wiping out the gene entirely. He had people—a scientist, maybe an alchemist, and witches too, for all I know. They were creating something—an injection. Something that would give him absolute control over wolves.”

Her words sent a shiver down my spine, memories flashing through my mind like jagged shards of glass. The broken howls of wolves in the pits. The way their bodies obeyed commands they didn’t want to follow. The look in their eyes—desperation, hopelessness, pain.

“It’s not just about breaking us anymore,” I said softly, my voice trembling but steady enough to carry. “It’s about owning us. Turning us into weapons.”

My mother let out a soft gasp, her hand flying to her mouth as her face paled. SJ reached out, gripping her shoulder tightly, his expression hardening like he wanted to tear Shaun apart himself. Darren leaned forward, his knuckles whitening as he braced himself against the edge of the table.

“What about these… people he’s working with? The alchemist, the witches. Why would they help him?” Darren asked, his voice sharper now.

ara’s fingers tapped restlessly against the table, the sharp rhythm filling the tense silence. Her sharp, thoughtful gaze flicked between us before she finally spoke. “I don’t know much. I only heard fragments of conversations, whispers in the dark. But what I do know is this—they’re operating out of rogue territories. Somewhere deep in the south.”

The weight of her words hung heavy in the room, but the mention of rogue territories sent a ripple of unease through everyone. Rogue lands weren’t just dangerous—they were wild, lawless, a no-man’s-land where anything could happen. But it wasn’t just the rogues that clawed at my memories.

I drew in a breath, steadying myself before speaking. “There was someone. At the last facility.” My voice was quiet at first, but every head turned toward me. “A witch. She was held captive like we were. She helped us, especially during the escape.”

Kara nodded beside me, her brows furrowing. “Yeah. She was incredible. I don’t think we would’ve made it out without her.”

Griffin leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms with a small, knowing smirk tugging at his lips. “She wasn’t just ‘helpful.’ She was instrumental in getting us out of there, Scarlett especially. You should’ve seen her. Daily lessons, hours spent learning things the rest of us couldn’t even wrap our heads around. Only Scarlett could pull off what she did.”

My stomach twisted slightly, the memory of those lessons sharp and vivid in my mind. “Her name was Eleanor,” I said, my voice soft, the name falling from my lips like a whispered memory. “She said she had the sight. She could see the future, or fragments of it anyway. But it was more than that. She understood how to manipulate energy, how to see pathways that most people couldn’t. She said she’d been taken because of her abilities, that she’d been forced to help Shaun and his people.”

“What kind of help?” Darren asked, his voice sharp, his protective instincts kicking in as his gaze swept across the room, landing briefly on me.

“She didn’t tell me everything,” I admitted, shaking my head. “But she hinted at how Shaun was using her. She said she wasn’t the only witch they had. She said her coven was being held hostage—her sisters. That Shaun and his people were forcing them to cooperate by threatening their lives. They even…” My throat tightened, the words catching in my chest. “They even killed a few. To make an example.”

The air in the room grew heavier, the crackling fire seeming to dim under the weight of what I’d said. My mother flinched, her hands trembling slightly as she gripped the edge of the table. SJ reached out to steady her, his jaw clenched tightly.

“She was the one who helped during the final fight,” Kara added, her voice quieter now but no less intense. “Scarlett had been working with her every day. Eleanor taught her how to channel her wolf’s energy in ways that… I don’t even know how to describe it. It was like Scarlett was tapping into something bigger than herself.”

Griffin’s smirk deepened as he leaned forward slightly, his dark eyes glinting with that same faint amusement he always carried, though there was admiration in it, too. “That’s our girl for you,” he said, his voice carrying a teasing edge. “Always finding a way to turn the impossible into—”

Ryland’s low growl cut him off, rumbling through the room like distant thunder. His wolf was close to the surface, golden eyes flashing as his shoulders tensed. “Griffin,” he said, his voice sharp and laced with warning, “quit adding fuel to the fire.”