تسجيل الدخولChapter 48Leo's Pov I went into the archive room and shut the door shut behind me before I slid the deadbolt across. My hands were shaking so badly that the metal was rattling against the stone. Ronan was already standing inside by a table that was in the centre of the room. He was holding a small lantern, the yellow light flickering against his dark hair and bruised face. He looked calm, but I knew he was just as terrified as I was."Is this door locked?" Ronan asked me."Yes," I said, my voice coming out too high. I cleared my throat and tried to sound older and more firmer. "No one can open it from the outside without a master key. Now stop wasting time and show me what you found."Ronan set the lantern down on the table, he looked at me with those cold Darkmoon eyes. "You know you don't have to do this, Leo, you can walk out right now. If your family finds us here looking through Gideon's old logs, they might banish you.""Shut up," I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest to
Chapter 47Celeste's povThe stone floor of my holding cell was freezing, but the cold was nothing compared to the panic clawing at my throat.For days, I had been locked inside this damp, miserable hole in the Silvercrest estate. My expensive silk dress was stained with filth and my nails were broken. I was a Beta who had been groomed to rule as Luna of the Darkmoon Pack, yet here I was, treated like garbage while Yvonne played the heroic White Wolf princess upstairs.It was utterly humiliating.I huddled in the shadow of my wooden cot, listening intently to the hallway outside. The heavy footsteps of the Silvercrest guards echoed rhythmically against the stone walls. Five steps left. Five steps right. Then a long pause near the stairwell.I knew their schedule. I had memorized every shift change over the past forty-eight hours.The moment the guard's boots faded down the corridor, I dropped to my knees and reached into the dark crevice beneath my bed. My fingers brushed against
Chapter 46Ronan's pov The cold night air bit into my chest with every breath I took. The wound on my side burned, but I refused to go inside, I deserved the cold and the pain. Standing guard outside the Silvercrest estate was the only way I could keep my mind from replaying my past mistakes.I failed Yvonne for years, I ignored her calls while letting Celeste manipulate me, and I almost lost my children. I promised myself I would not fail her again.I walked along the high walls of the eastern perimeter, my boots crunching against the thin frost on the ground. My wolf was quiet inside me, tense and listening to every sound in the forest.I pulled out my small map and checked the guard schedule. I could sense that something was wrong.I stopped near the large stone archway.Every fifteen minutes, two Silvercrest warriors were supposed to cross paths right here. I checked my watch, twenty minutes passed, then twenty-five but no one came.I walked fifty paces to the left. The searc
Chapter 45Julian's Pov The doors of the Silvercrest tactical archive remained closed to nearly everyone, but my clearance as the head strategist granted me access at any hour. I needed a moment of quiet. The sterile smell of old parchment, cold stone, and magic-infused ink always helped clear my head, though nothing could quiet the lingering hum of anxiety in my chest.Ever since we returned from the mountain with the twins and Marguerite, an invisible weight had settled over the estate. I heard about Marguerite’s chilling indifference during Yvonne’s interrogation and that had proven one terrifying fact. The enemy wasn't just some rogue faction out in the wilderness, the mastermind was here, embedded deep within our ranks, moving with the quiet precision of someone who knew every security protocol, every guard rotation, and every defensive blind spot we possessed.I sat at my private desk, the dim glow of a floating spell-globe, was my only source of light. I pulled up the mag
Chapter 44Yvonne's povThe air inside Silvercrest’s underground holding cells was damp and tasted of old iron. There was water dripping from the ceiling, echoing against the reinforced bedrock walls. I walked down the dim stone corridor with my hand resting against my side, my legs still heavy from the sheer amount of magic I’d burned through at the mountain shrine.My father was walking beside me, taking delibrrate strides. He wasn't looking like the grieving parent anymore, he now looked like an alpha that was about to tear an enemy apart. The dark-magic suppression cuffs on his belt clinked softly with every step he took."She hasn't eaten," my father said in a deep and rapsu voice that still echoed in the enclosed space. "She hasn't spoken a word to the guards since we locked the ward door.""She'll talk to us," I said in a steady voice. "She knows why we're here."We stopped in front of the heaviest door at the end of the hall. The guard on duty quickly bowed his head and slid
Chapter 43Julian's Pov I held the glass door of the Silvercrest medical wing open as my father carried the twins inside. These babies had been gone for months, and those months without them felt like terror, everyone had been restless as endless search parties were conducted. But now, looking at their soft cheeks and tiny blankets, a wave of pure relief washed over the hallway. Mother collapsed into a chair, weeping quietly while she squeezed Yvonne's hand. Even father, who usually looked like a statue carved from granite, wiped a stray tear from his cheek.We had them back, my niece and nephew were finally safe inside our fortified walls, surrounded by glowing shields that were able to keep all dark magic away.Yet, nobody was smiling. The silence in the room was too cold, even for me. We had all gone to that mountain thinking that we were finally going to end everything because the minute we saw Celeste's mother, Marguerite, we thought she was the monster behind the eighteen y







