Chapter 3

I lay on the iron bed, weak and chained. Every movement sent shocks of pain through my wrists and ankles. Darian stood silently at the edge of the room, tall and rigid, his eyes unreadable.

He clapped once. The sound echoed through the stone chamber, sharp and commanding.

Low-ranking Stormcliff warriors entered, heads bowed. Their boots clattered lightly against the cold floor. One whispered, “Alpha Darian… what are you doing?”

He did not answer. He bent down, his voice soft but unyielding. “I need the truth. If you do not tell me, they will remain here. One day for each day of silence. One month for each month.”

The warriors lined up along the wall, backs to me. I shivered, not just from cold, but from the weight of their silent judgment and the looming presence of the Alpha. The iron chains bit into my skin with every tiny tremor, each shiver sending a jolt of pain up my arms.

“Darian,” I whispered, voice cracking, “I kept the truth for you. You must believe me.”

“For me?” His laugh was bitter, cold, almost hollow. “Even now, you refuse to speak.”

He straightened slowly, the movement measured, deliberate. He waved the warriors away. The stone door closed with a resonant thud, leaving me alone with the distant, muffled murmurs of the pack below.

Darian stood at the chamber entrance, back to me. “Whenever you are ready to speak, you will leave,” he said, his voice echoing softly through the empty room. Then he walked away, his steps steady and final.

I was left alone on the cold stone floor. The lunar lamp above dimmed slowly, casting long shadows that stretched across the dungeon walls. Below the platform, wolves shouted again, their voices rising in a frenzy:

“Look at her! She still won’t speak!”

“She says she protected him? How shameless!”

“Continue! Show us the night Selene died!”

Their howls rippled through the plaza like a living thing, bouncing off walls, cracking through branches, echoing between the ancient cedars. Some wolves leapt higher, balancing on rooftops, tails bristled, teeth bared. Sparks fell from torches struck by gusts of wind, small embers dancing across the snow-dusted stone. Their collective voice rose and fell like a storm tide, and somewhere in the back of my mind, my wolf whimpered, curling tighter, shrinking under the weight of their anger.

The Soul Recollection Device rumbled. The heavy metal frame vibrated beneath my shoulders. The projection screen flickered violently, casting ghostly pale light across the walls.

The gray stone tower of Blackrock Keep appeared beneath a storm-dark sky. Snow whipped around the spires, gusting through the battlements. Selene’s body lay below, her white fur matted with blood and snow, belly slightly rounded. A faint outline of the pup could still be seen beneath her torn cloak, fragile, unreal, a cruel reminder of what had been lost.

Outside the cordon, Darian stood motionless, bloodshot eyes fixed on the scene. I collapsed at his feet, crying and dry heaving, my chains rattling with each movement. The cold cut through me, and the acrid smell of burnt torches and scorched branches mingled with the iron tang of my blood.

Luna Marla tried to rush past the guards, but she fainted before reaching Selene’s body, her body crumpling against the crystal barrier.

The elders confirmed Selene had jumped—but her body bore marks of a struggle. Someone had touched her before she leapt. Who would harm a pregnant wolf? The thought twisted my stomach, nausea rising, bile threatening to come up.

I was the first to arrive. All eyes turned to me. Marla grabbed my arm with both hands, trembling.

“Lyra, what did you see when you arrived?” she cried. “Did someone kill Selene? Speak!”

I looked at her. She had always been composed, dignified, the elder Luna of Stormcliff. But that day, she looked like a mother losing her mind, her face contorted with grief and disbelief. Her fingers dug into my arms, and for a moment, I could feel the raw heat of her panic, the tremor in her voice, as if she could burn through the iron chains with her despair.

The answer rose to my lips, threatening to spill, then sank back. I closed my eyes.

“Mother… I do not know.”

Marla collapsed as if all strength had left her. I moved to support her, but Darian pushed me back with a force that pressed my body flat against the cold stone. His eyes searched mine, fierce, desperate, pleading. He wanted an answer.

I could not give it. I would not.

“Darian… I am sorry.”

His eyes glowed red in the dim light. “Can sorry bring back two lives?”

The plaza erupted again, wolves screaming and growling.

“Look!”

“See who she is protecting!”

The projection trembled, then revealed a figure on the rooftop behind Selene. The wolves fell silent as the face became clear. Except Alpha Aldric and Luna Marla, everyone else was confused, murmuring among themselves.