All Chapters of The Alpha Quintuplets' Guardian Luna: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

"The pack house has the best defences. Your old room, or we could set you up somewhere in the main wing if you prefer." Seth ran a hand through his hair, looking suddenly uncertain. "Or if being around us is too much, there's the guest cottage on the north side of the property. It's isolated but still within the protected boundaries." The guest cottage. I'd cleaned it countless times over the years, but never imagined I might actually stay there. It would give me the space I needed while keeping me safe from external threats. "The cottage," I said, making the decision before I could second-guess myself. "But I want to be clear about something, Seth. Just because I'm coming back doesn't mean I'm ready to play happy family with five mates who spent eleven years making my life hell." 

I lifted my chin, knowing I couldn't hide what had happened. "I used whatever power killed Dr Reeves. Not to kill them, just to... make them stop." Peter took an instinctive step backward, his face hardening with suspicion. "You controlled them? With your mind?" "I don't know what I did," I admitted, exhaustion seeping into my bones. "I just knew I couldn't let them hurt Seth." The admission hung in the air between us. I wasn't ready to examine why I'd been so desperate to protect someone who had spent years tormenting me. The mate bond made everything confusing, blurring lines that should have remained clear. "You need rest," Alpha Marcus said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Both of you."

A stunned silence fell over the room as Francis's words sank in. The revelation about Ruby's lack of food was another piece of the horrifying puzzle they were all struggling to assemble, a picture of systematic abuse that had occurred right under their noses. Declan slammed his fist against the wall, leaving a crater in the plaster. "How could we have been so blind?" His voice shook with barely contained rage, though now it was directed inward rather than at Ruby. "The drugs..." Nelson began, but Alpha Marcus cut him off. "Were part of it, yes. But they don't excuse everything." The Alpha's shoulders sagged with the weight of his failure. He had promised Ruby's father he would protect her, and instead, he had overseen years of her torment. "We saw what we wante

Meanwhile, back in the packhouse… Peter came down for breakfast, when he went into the kitchen to grab his food Ruby wasn’t there and although he hated to admit it he was wishing that he’d woken up and she would have been there cooking pancake, bacon, eggs and making sure that the cereal bar was stocked. However, today, the omegas that would usually come in later after Ruby had finished cooking were running around trying to do what she did every day. Peter stood in the kitchen doorway, momentarily stunned by the chaotic scene before him. Three omega kitchen staff rushed around, bumping into each other as they attempted to prepare breakfast for the pack. The organised efficiency that had been present every morning for eleven years was conspicuously absent, along with Ruby. "Where's the food?" he demand

The command wasn't spoken aloud, but it resonated through me like a struck bell. I closed my eyes, allowing my senses to expand beyond my physical form. The mate bonds appeared in my mind's eye as five distinct threads, each one a different colour and texture, each leading back to the pack house where the quintuplets were gathered. Something had changed. I could feel their agitation, their fear. Something had happened. "What are they afraid of?" I murmured, following the threads deeper. An image flashed behind my closed eyelids, a dead rogue wolf with a symbol carved into its chest. The Shadow Alpha. The name came to me without context, ancient and terrifying. My eyes snapped open. "Who is the Shadow Alpha?"