The Silver Locket

The wind howling across the balcony felt like a thousand needles against my skin. Down below, the torches of the Ironclaw army flickered like angry orange eyes. But my world had narrowed down to one thing: that silver locket resting against the chest of the Ironclaw Alpha.

"Claude," I whispered, my fingers digging into the cold stone of the railing. "The locket. He shouldn't have it. My mother was buried with that."

Claude’s face was a mask of frozen fury. His eyes were locked on the men below ,his sons, and the monster they had brought to his doorstep.

"I know," Claude rumbled. "I saw her wear it the day of the... the day it happened. If he has it, it means the grave was disturbed. Or she never made it to the ground."

A chill that had nothing to do with the winter air settled in my bones. Zayne was shouting something from the clearing, his voice full of arrogance.

"Father!" Zayne’s voice finally broke through. "Send the girl down! We don't want your blood, only the throne you’ve tainted!"

Claude leaned over the edge, his voice amplified by his Alpha power. "You bring our oldest enemies to our gates and speak of taint? You are a disgrace to the Moonlight name, Zayne!"

Beside Zayne, the Ironclaw Alpha stepped forward. He was older, with a jagged scar running from his ear to his chin. He reached up and slowly traced the silver locket around his neck. He was looking directly at me.

"Is that the girl?" the Ironclaw Alpha asked. His voice was like grinding stones. "The daughter of Elena?"

"She is," Zack answered, his voice sounding small next to the older Alpha. "She’s the one our father has gone mad for."

The Ironclaw Alpha let out a dry, hacking laugh. "Elena’s daughter. Living as a servant in the house of her mother’s killer. How poetic."

"What do you know about my mother?" I screamed, my voice cracking as I leaned over the railing.

The Ironclaw Alpha tilted his head. "More than the man standing next to you, little wolf. More than the man who watched her plead for her life and did nothing."

Claude’s hand clamped onto my shoulder. "Don't listen to him, Rayna. He's trying to get inside your head."

"Is he?" I turned to look at Claude. The golden thread of our mate bond was pulsing, but it felt heavy now. "He has her locket, Claude. How? Did you check the bodies? Did you actually see them buried?"

Claude’s eyes flickered with sharp pain. "The Elders... they handled the burial. I was not allowed to go. They said the pack would riot if I showed them mercy even in death."

I felt a surge of nausea. The Elders again. Everything led back to the men who sat in the shadows of this pack.

"The girl is coming down!" Zayne shouted from below. "Or we come in!"

"You will stay where you are!" Claude roared. He turned to Garen, who was standing behind us. "Garen, take the North wall. If any Ironclaw crosses the line, kill them. But do not touch my sons. Not yet."

Claude turned to me, his hands gripping my arms. "Rayna, I need you to go back to the archives. Find the ledger from ten years ago. Find out who took that locket from Elena's neck."

"And what are you going to do?" I asked.

"I’m going to talk to my sons," Claude said, his jaw tightening. "Without an army between us."

He didn't wait for my answer. He vaulted over the railing, shifting into his massive black wolf mid-air. I watched as the black wolf walked slowly toward the two princes.

I didn't go to the archives. Instead, I ran down the stairs to the servant’s entrance. I slipped out into the shadows of the courtyard, hiding behind a stone pillar near the main gate. Claude had shifted back to his human form. He stood alone in the snow, facing his sons and the enemy Alpha.

"Zayne. Zack," Claude said, his voice strangely calm. "Look at the men behind you. These are the wolves who have raided our farms for decades. Is the throne worth this much?"

"The throne is worth a leader who isn't a fool!" Zayne spat. "You’re protecting a girl whose parents sold us out!"

"And what if they didn't?"

I stepped out from the shadows. I walked right up to the gate, the iron bars between me and the princes.

"Rayna, get back!" Claude commanded.

I ignored him. I looked at Zack. "Zack, look at the locket on that man's neck. That was my mother's. Why does your new friend have it?"

Zack looked at the Ironclaw Alpha, then at the locket. "He said he found it on the border years ago. A trophy from a dead traitor."

"He lied," I said. "My mother was taken from her bed to the execution block. The only people who touched her were the Moonlight Elders."

The Ironclaw Alpha stepped closer to the gate. "You have your mother's fire, girl. But you're wrong. I didn't find it. It was a gift."

"A gift from who?" Claude demanded.

"From the man who really runs this pack," the Ironclaw Alpha sneered. "The man who knew that if he killed a couple of nobodies, he could keep the Alpha and the Ironclaws at each other's throats for a generation."

Suddenly, an arrow whistled through the air. It didn't come from the Ironclaw army. It came from the top of our own pack house. It struck the Ironclaw Alpha in the shoulder.

"Treachery!" Zayne screamed. "Kill them all!"

The Ironclaw wolves charged the gate. The sound of metal snapping and wolves howling filled the air.

"Rayna, run!" Claude yelled, shifting back into his wolf form to meet the attackers.

I turned to run, but a hand grabbed my hair. I was yanked backward.

"You're not going anywhere, servant," a voice hissed.