Accueil / Werewolf / No Longer Your Luna / Chapitre 41 - Chapitre 50

Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 41 - Chapitre 50

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C41

"There will be no need for that."Alpha Aldric Moonfang's voice cut cleanly through the silence. Dean's eyes remained fixed on him. "The family registry is a private document belonging to House of Moonfang." Aldric's tone was respectful."But it is also protected under the rights of every sovereign bloodline."Before Dean could respond, one of the Moonfang elders rose to his feet.Another elder followed."The registry contains generations of private family records. It has no place in a public hearing."Murmurs of agreement spread among several noble delegates. Not all, but enough.The Council Speaker raised a hand, asking the chamber for order."We will address the matter of the registry in due course." The discussion shifted away from the question.Just enough, just long enough. Rowena watched it happen without saying a word.It was almost impressive. How quickly they had come together.Her father.The elders.The advisors.Every member of House Moonfang stood behind the same wall o

C42

"State your purpose before the witness altar."The Council Speaker's voice rolled through the Grand Alpha Assembly with quiet authority.Every conversation faded. Every restless movement ceased. Rowena stopped a few steps before the ancient altar. For a heartbeat, she simply stood there. The witness platform had existed long before any of the noble houses that now occupied the chamber. It had witnessed declarations of peace, confessions of betrayal, blood oaths, and the rise and fall of generations of Alphas.Its white stone surface bore faint silver veins that shimmered beneath the morning light streaming through the high windows. Upon the altar rested a single object, a silver ritual blade. Simple and unadorned.Its edge gleamed with the unmistakable purity of forged silver. The blade had never been meant for violence.Only truth.Rowena looked at it quietly, she had seen ceremonial blades before. As a child, she had watched Pack leaders swear oaths upon similar altars. Her mother u

C43

"Stop the bleeding!"The command rang through the Grand Alpha Assembly before the first drop of blood had fully settled on the white stone.Everything happened at once. The ceremonial priests rushed forward from both sides of the witness platform. One reached for a clean linen cloth. Another carried a silver bowl used for sacred blood rites. A third raised both hands toward Rowena."Child, lower the blade!""You've done enough!""Step away from the altar!"The orderly silence that had governed the Assembly moments ago dissolved into chaos. Delegates shot to their feet. Questions collided with accusations. No one seemed to know what they had just witnessed. Bobby had stood through battles. He had watched council meetings collapse into shouting matches. He had even survived the public march through Moonhaven. None of it compared to this.The Assembly wasn't merely surprised, it was shaken. Rowena never moved. The silver ritu

C44

"Impossible... the crest has gone dark!"The chief priest's voice echoed through the Grand Alpha Assembly, carrying a disbelief so raw that it silenced every whisper in the chamber.No one moved.The ancient crest carved into the witness altar remained dark.Not dim.Not dormant.Dark.It looked as though centuries of Moonborn history had simply... stopped. The white stone beneath it was still stained with Rowena's blood.Fresh, bright. Unmistakably real.Yet the sacred emblem that had answered countless blood oaths throughout history showed no sign of life. The Assembly stared in stunned silence. Then the silence shattered."This ceremony cannot continue!"A Moonfang elder lurched to his feet, pointing an accusing finger toward the altar."The ritual has been corrupted!" Another elder stood beside him."We reject these proceedings!""The declaration is invalid!"Voices erupted throughout the hall, delegates rose from their seats. Council members argued over one another. Some demanded

C45

"Retract your declaration, and this Assembly may yet show mercy."The voice belonged to an elder seated near the Council Speaker. It wasn't harsh.If anything, it carried the weary tone of a man trying to stop something he believed would haunt everyone involved. The words drifted through the Grand Alpha Assembly.Several delegates nodded in agreement."He's right.""There's still time.""No bloodline should end this way."The whispers spread quickly. The storm that had shaken the Assembly moments ago had settled into something quieter.Not peace.Regret.The ancient witness altar remained at it's position. The Moonfang crest carved into its surface was still dark. Rowena stood beside it, her bandaged hand resting loosely at her side.A small bloom of crimson had already begun to soak through the white linen. The wound wasn't deep, but it had never been about the wound. It had always been about the choice.The Council Speaker rose slowly. His voice carried the weight of decades spent j

C46

"Forget the Assembly. I have another war for you to fight."Dean's voice was calm, but it carried the weight of a man who hadn't slept. Castiel stepped into the Supreme Alpha's private study and quietly shut the door behind him. Outside, Blackwolf Manor was only beginning to wake. Servants crossed the corridors with lowered voices, and guards rotated shifts after the long session at the Grand Alpha Assembly.The city was still talking about Rowena. Inside this room, Dean wasn't. Castiel stood before the large oak desk. "You sent for me, Supreme Alpha."Dean nodded but didn't immediately answer. Instead, he stared out the window overlooking the training grounds where young warriors sparred with wooden blades."They're all looking in the wrong direction."Castiel frowned, "My Alpha?"Dean finally turned."Every noble house is arguing over what happened yesterday.""The newspapers are feeding the fire.""The Council is preparing for another session."He folded his arms."If I were plann

C47

"Tracks don't lie. Men do."Castiel's voice was little more than a murmur, but it carried clearly across the silent wasteland.Sam Blackwolf glanced down at the wagon ruts cutting through the dry earth."They've covered them well.""They tried."Castiel crouched, running his gloved fingers over the loose soil."They brushed away the deepest impressions."He pointed toward a line of thorn bushes bordering the trail. "But they forgot the edges."Sam stepped closer, broken twigs. Freshly disturbed gravel. A tuft of horsehair snagged on a thorn. Someone had gone to considerable lengths to hide the convoy's path, just not well enough. Castiel rose to his feet. "They're disciplined."Sam folded his arms."So are we.""They're hiding."Castiel looked towards the distant hills."We're searching.""Those aren't the same thing."Without another word, he continued deeper into the Shadowfang Wastelands. The further they travelled, the stranger the landscape became. The old military road slowly di

C48

"Don't touch anything else."Castiel's voice cut sharply through the underground chamber. Sam, who had been reaching for another crate, immediately withdrew his hand."I wasn't going to.""You were thinking about it."Sam gave him an innocent look."I was thinking about a lot of things."Castiel allowed the corner of his mouth to twitch."Think after we've documented the evidence." Sam sighed dramatically."One day, I'm going to discover you're actually capable of having fun.""Today isn't that day."The brief exchange faded as both men turned their attention back to the cavern. The enormity of what lay before them settled over them once more. Hundreds of military crates.Dominion supplies.Weapons.Medicine.Silver.Everything hidden beneath the forgotten hills of the Shadowfang Wastelands. This wasn't merely corruption, it was infrastructure. Built carefully.Protected meticulously.Funded patiently.Castiel knelt beside the open crate containing the convoy ledger. He unrolled it

C49

"If this ledger is genuine... then we've been hunting the wrong enemy."The words lingered in the quiet study like the final note of a funeral bell. Dean Blackwolf stood at the head of the long oak table, the morning sun spilling through tall windows behind him. In his hands rested the weathered leather ledger Castiel had carried back from the Shadowfang Wastelands. The room was occupied by only four people.Dean.Castiel.Bobby.Sam.No guards.No servants.Not even Dean's personal attendants had been allowed inside.What lay on the table was too dangerous for more eyes. Castiel looked as though he hadn't slept. Dust still clung to the hem of his cloak, and the leather on his boots bore the pale grey soil of the wastelands. Dean noticed immediately."You came straight here."Castiel nodded once."I didn't trust leaving this anywhere else."Dean understood.Neither would he.He carefully laid the ledger beside the convoy records recovered from the hidden warehouse.Two books; One rec

C50

"Men don't disappear into stone. So where did he go?"The question hung in the morning air as Castiel stood inside the narrow alley behind the Bloodmoon Gathering Hall. Sunlight barely reached the passage. The high merchant warehouses on either side swallowed most of the light, leaving the ground cool and damp despite the early hour. Sam leaned against the weathered brick wall, rubbing the back of his neck."I've replayed it a dozen times."Castiel remained crouched near the place where the hooded stranger had vanished."And?"Sam sighed."The answer doesn't change.""He came in.""He never came out."Castiel studied the stone beneath his boots."I don't believe in ghosts."Sam smiled faintly."I was hoping you'd say that."Three of Blackwolf Manor's most trusted scouts waited at either end of the alley. Every one of them had searched the surrounding streets before sunrise.Nothing.No hidden doors.No loose paving stones.No rooftops close enough for an escape.Nothing.One scout ste

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