Chapter 6: The Secret Inside Mother's Pendant

Anne's POV

The threat should have frightened me.

Instead, it made one thing clear.

Someone in Blackthorn knew I was getting close to the truth.

I folded the anonymous note and hid it inside my mattress. Then I returned to the window, watching Darius Voss until he disappeared into the mansion.

My mother's warning echoed in my mind.

If Caelan takes you, find the traitor within.

She hadn't written that message without a reason. She had known something about Blackthorn, perhaps even something about Caelan himself.

But why hadn't she told me before the wedding?

I looked down at the silver pendant in my palm. The crescent moon was worn smooth from years of handling, and its tiny compartment was almost impossible to notice unless someone knew where to look.

I pressed the hidden latch again.

Nothing happened.

I tried pushing it from the opposite side. Still nothing.

Frustrated, I examined the pendant more carefully. A thin line ran around the crescent's edge, separating its front from its back. There was another tiny groove near the clasp.

I pressed it with my fingernail.

A second compartment clicked open.

My breath caught.

Inside was a small piece of metal engraved with a symbol: a crescent moon crossed by three narrow lines.

I had seen that symbol before.

Not in Silvermoon.

In my father's study.

Three days before the wedding, I had gone looking for him after overhearing his argument. His office door had been slightly open, and I had seen him standing over a map with a small silver object in his hand.

When he noticed me, he had hidden it inside his desk.

At the time, I assumed it was another piece of pack business.

Now I wasn't so sure.

I turned the metal piece over. Tiny letters had been engraved on the back.

EAST. THIRD BELL.

I stared at the words.

East could mean the eastern border, where Caelan claimed my father had planned to betray him. The third bell might refer to a time, a place, or some tradition I didn't understand.

Whatever it meant, my mother had hidden it for a reason.

A knock sounded at my door.

I quickly closed the pendant and slipped it into my pocket.

“Who is it?”

“Your dinner, miss.”

I hesitated before opening the door.

A young woman stood outside with a tray. She wore a dark green uniform, and her brown hair was tied into a neat bun. Unlike the guards, she looked uncomfortable being near me.

“Leave it there,” I said.

She glanced at the tray, then at the corridor.

“I was told to bring it inside.”

“By whom?”

“The housekeeper.”

I stepped aside.

She entered, placed the tray on the table, and began arranging the dishes. I watched her carefully. She couldn't have been much older than me.

“What is your name?” I asked.

“Lydia.”

“Have you worked here long?”

“Three years.”

“Then perhaps you can answer a question.”

Her hands stopped moving.

“That depends on the question.”

I almost smiled. At least one person in this mansion understood the danger of speaking carelessly.

“Do you know the eastern wing of the old estate?”

Her face changed.

It was a small reaction, but I caught it.

“Why are you asking?”

“I'm curious.”

“Curiosity can be dangerous here.”

“So I've discovered.”

Lydia lowered her voice.

“The old eastern wing has been sealed for years. The Alpha ordered it closed after his father's death. Nobody goes there without permission.”

“Why?”

“I don't know.”

“Has anyone been there recently?”

She looked toward the door.

“I shouldn't talk about this.”

“I'm not asking you to betray your Alpha. I just want information.”

Lydia studied me, uncertainty flickering across her face.

Then she leaned closer.

“Two nights ago, I saw a man coming from the old eastern wing. He was carrying a leather case. I couldn't see his face, but he wore the intelligence division's insignia.”

Darius.

I kept my expression neutral.

“Did you tell anyone?”

“No. I value my position.”

“Of course.”

She moved toward the door, but I stopped her.

“One more question. What is the third bell?”

Lydia frowned.

“Third bell?”

I regretted asking the moment I saw her reaction.

She looked genuinely confused.

“I'm sorry. I don't know what that means.”

She left a moment later, closing the door quietly behind her.

I waited until her footsteps disappeared before returning to the pendant.

The old eastern wing. The intelligence division. The third bell.

Three clues, none of them enough to solve the mystery.

But at least I had somewhere to start.

I waited until the mansion grew quiet.

The guards outside my room changed shifts at midnight. I had noticed the pattern during my previous escape attempt, and I intended to use it.

This time, I didn't take the servants' passage. The guards would be watching it.

Instead, I slipped into the main corridor and followed the route I had seen the servants use earlier. I kept my head lowered whenever someone passed, pretending I belonged there.

My wedding dress had been replaced with a plain black dress from the wardrobe. It was easier to move in, though every time I looked at it, I remembered the blood staining my wedding gown.

I pushed the memory away.

Tonight wasn't about grief.

It was about answers.

The eastern wing lay beyond a narrow staircase at the end of the west corridor. Unlike the rest of the mansion, this section looked neglected. Dust coated the windowsills, and the paintings on the walls had been covered with white sheets.

At the far end stood a heavy wooden door.

A silver lock hung from its handle.

I crouched and examined it. The lock was newer than the door, which meant someone had deliberately secured the entrance.

I tried the keys I'd stolen earlier.

The fourth one turned.

The lock clicked open.

I slipped inside.

The air smelled of dust and damp stone. Moonlight filtered through tall windows, revealing an abandoned hallway lined with closed rooms.

I moved carefully, listening for footsteps.

At the end of the hall, I found a room with its door slightly ajar.

Inside stood an old desk, a broken chair, and several empty shelves. Someone had searched the room recently. Papers lay scattered across the floor, and a drawer had been ripped from the desk.

I knelt beside the scattered documents.

Most were too damaged to read, but one page contained a list of dates and names.

I recognized my father's name immediately.

Beside it was the same crescent symbol engraved on the metal piece inside my pendant.

My pulse quickened.

Below the symbol, someone had written:

The third bell must never ring.

I read the sentence twice.

What did it mean?

A floorboard creaked behind me.

I spun around.

A shadow moved across the doorway.

“Who's there?”

No answer.

I rose slowly, reaching for the small knife hidden in my sleeve.

Then a hand clamped over my mouth.

I struggled, driving my elbow backward, but the person behind me caught my arm and twisted it painfully.

“Make a sound,” a man whispered, “and you'll never learn what your mother died protecting.”

My entire body went rigid.

He knew about my mother.

He knew about the pendant.

And he had been waiting for me.

I bit his hand.

He cursed and released me. I spun around, knife raised, but the man retreated into the darkness before I could see his face.

I rushed after him.

By the time I reached the hallway, it was empty.

Only the echo of his footsteps remained.

I returned to the room, breathing hard, and grabbed the page from the floor.

Someone had tried to stop me from discovering the truth.

That meant I was close.

But as I turned toward the door, a familiar voice cut through the darkness.

“What exactly are you doing here, Anne?”

Caelan stood at the end of the hallway, his expression colder than I had ever seen it.

His gaze dropped to the paper in my hand.

Then he looked at the open lock.

“You were warned not to interfere in my affairs.”

I lifted my chin.

“And someone just tried to kill me.”

His expression changed instantly.

He crossed the hallway in three strides and caught my arm, examining me for injuries.

“Who?”

“I didn't see his face.”

“Did he touch you?”

“He tried to silence me.”

Caelan's jaw tightened. He turned toward the corridor and called for his guards.

When two warriors appeared, his voice was deadly calm.

“Seal every exit. Nobody leaves this mansion until I say so.”

They hurried away.

I held up the page.

“Tell me what the third bell means.”

Caelan stared at the symbol.

Looking genuinely shaken.

“Where did you find this?”

“In this room.”

He took the page from me, reading the sentence beneath the symbol.

The third bell must never ring.

His fingers tightened around the paper.

“Anne,” he said quietly, “you need to tell me everything you know about your mother's pendant.”

I stepped back.

“Why? So you can take that from me, too?”

His eyes met mine.

“Because if this symbol is what I think it is, your mother wasn't simply hiding a secret.”

He glanced toward the darkened hallway.

“She was warning us about something that could destroy both our packs.”

And judging by the fear in Caelan's eyes, he already knew what the third bell could unleash.