Chapter 8

The pack kitchen was full of steam and noise.

I stood in the corner, chopping vegetables for the evening meal. The head cook, an older woman named Martha, had asked for my help. I did not mind. Working with my hands kept my mind off Juan.

The back door of the kitchen opened softly. Liam slipped inside. He wore his thick patrol jacket, smelling like damp earth and pine needles.

He caught my eye and gestured toward the back hallway.

I put my knife down, wiped my hands on an apron, and quietly followed him out of the kitchen. We stood in a narrow, dark corridor where no one could hear us.

"What is wrong?" I asked him. Liam looked nervous.

"I need to talk to you," Liam whispered. "Things are getting tense at the borders. The Redwood pack is sending more warriors into our territory. They claim it is for Edith’s protection, but it looks like an invasion."

"Juan knows about this, right?" I asked.

"Juan is letting them do it," Liam shook his head. "He is so focused on keeping the peace with Edith’s father that he is ignoring the danger. Some of the older guards are angry. They do not trust the Redwood wolves."

I leaned against the wall, feeling a headache starting to form. "There is nothing we can do about pack politics, Liam. We just have to stay out of the way."

"I am trying," Liam said softly. "But Edith’s guards look at us like we are trash. One of them pushed me yesterday. I walked away, but I swear, Cora, if they touch you..."

"They will not touch me," I promised him. "I stay in the house. I just do what I am told."

Liam sighed and pulled me into a hug. "Just be careful. This wedding is making everyone crazy."

After Liam left, I went back to the kitchen. Martha looked up from a pot of soup.

"Cora, honey," Martha said kindly. "Edith sent a message down. She wants the silver candle holders for the dinner table tonight. They are down in the storage basement. Do you mind fetching them?"

"I will get them," I nodded.

I took a ring of rusty keys from the wall and walked down the narrow stairs to the basement. The air down here was cold and smelled like old dust.

The basement was a maze of wooden shelves filled with forgotten items. Old pack records, broken furniture, and boxes of decorations from years ago.

I found the box labeled for the dining room. Inside were the silver candle holders Edith wanted. They were tarnished and dirty. I would have to polish them before dinner.

As I pulled the box off the shelf, something caught my eye.

Behind the decorations, hidden in the shadows, was a small wooden chest. It was covered in a thick layer of dust, pushed so far back it looked like someone wanted it to be forgotten forever.

I set the candle holders down on the floor. I reached out and pulled the wooden chest forward.

There were faded letters carved into the lid. I wiped the dust away with my sleeve. My breath caught in my throat.

The names carved into the wood were my parents' names.

Thomas and Sarah.

My hands started to shake. My parents died when I was seven years old. The pack elders told us it was a rogue wolf attack near the border. They told us my parents were just normal, low-ranking members. They left nothing behind.

Why was their chest hidden in the Alpha’s private storage?

I tugged at the metal latch. It was old and rusted, but it was not locked. The lid creaked open.

Inside the chest, there were no clothes or normal belongings. There was a folded black flag with a silver moon crest on it. It was the symbol of the Nightfall pack, an elite warrior pack that was wiped out twenty years ago.

Under the flag, there was a stack of old letters and a thick, leather-bound journal.

I picked up the journal. The pages were yellow and brittle. I opened it to the first page. It was my mother’s handwriting.

If anyone reads this, know that we did not run away. We hid to protect our children. The bloodline must survive.

I stared at the words. My heart pounded so loudly I could hear it in my ears. The bloodline? Protect our children?

What did this mean? Were my parents part of the Nightfall pack? That pack was known for producing the strongest warriors in the world. If my parents were Nightfall wolves, then Liam and I were not weak. We were not low-ranking trash.

We had elite warrior blood in our veins.

"What are you doing down here?"

I gasped and dropped the journal. It hit the dusty floor with a soft thud.

I spun around.

Edith was standing at the bottom of the stairs.

She held a small flashlight, pointing the beam directly at my face. Her eyes darted from me to the open wooden chest, and then down to the journal on the floor.

"Martha said you were getting my silver," Edith said. Her voice was suspiciously calm. She slowly walked toward me. "But it looks like you are snooping through the Alpha's private things."

"I was just looking for the candles," I said quickly. I stepped in front of the journal, trying to hide it with my feet.

Edith stopped a few feet away. She pointed the flashlight down, shining it directly onto the journal and the black flag inside the chest.

She stared at the silver moon crest. A look of complete shock crossed her face. Then, a slow, wicked smile spread across her lips.

"Well, well," Edith whispered. "Look what the little maid found."