Chapter 21: Return to Lunaris

The road into Lunaris territory wound through mountains covered in pine and silver birch.

I sat beside Rowan in the back seat while Cassian rode up front with the driver.

Mom and Dad followed in another vehicle with Mireya, Garrick, and Lyra.

The farther we traveled, the quieter everyone became.

Even Cassian stopped making sarcastic comments.

At the old border marker, he asked the convoy to stop.

We stepped outside.

A weathered stone pillar stood beside the road.

Most of its crest had been destroyed, but I could still make out a crescent moon crossed by three golden lines.

"Lunaris," Cassian said.

My wolf stirred immediately.

A strange pressure filled my chest.

Not painful.

Recognition.

I placed my palm against the stone.

Golden light flashed beneath my fingers.

Everyone went still.

A faint hum traveled through the ground.

Then, somewhere deep in the forest, a wolf howled.

Lyra covered her mouth.

"The territory remembers."

"Territories don't remember," I said, though my voice sounded less certain than I wanted.

Mireya smiled. "Some do."

We continued toward the estate.

The ruins appeared near sunset.

Burned stone walls.

Collapsed towers.

Wild vines growing through what had once been windows.

I expected to feel nothing.

Instead, grief hit me so suddenly I had to stop.

Not my grief.

Something deeper.

My wolf whimpered.

Rowan stood beside me without touching.

"Want to leave?"

"No."

I forced myself forward.

"I need to see it."

Mom cried when she entered the courtyard.

Cassian looked like he had forgotten how to breathe.

Mireya lowered herself carefully to her knees and touched the stones.

Nobody spoke for several minutes.

Then I saw it.

The cedar.

Half its trunk was blackened by old fire, but it was alive.

Massive branches stretched over the ruined courtyard.

I walked toward it.

"This is the one."

Mom nodded.

"Your grandfather planted it when I was born."

We searched the ground.

At first, there was nothing.

Then Rowan noticed a crescent shape carved into one root.

"Nessa."

I crouched.

Beneath moss and dirt was a small moon symbol.

"Moon beneath the cedar."

Cassian drew a knife and carefully cleared the soil.

A circular metal plate appeared.

No handle.

No lock.

Only a shallow indentation shaped like a palm.

Mireya looked at me.

"Blood seal."

"Mine?"

"Aurelius's direct line."

I placed my hand into the indentation.

Nothing happened.

Cassian frowned.

"Maybe it needs blood."

Rowan immediately said, "Minimal."

I looked at him. "You're very bossy around knives."

"Correct."

I pricked my fingertip.

One drop fell onto the plate.

Gold exploded across the metal.

The ground rumbled.

A hidden section of stone slid aside, revealing narrow stairs descending into darkness.

Cassian's face changed.

"It survived."

We went down with flashlights.

The chamber below was dry.

Shelves lined the walls.

Most were empty.

At the center stood a sealed black chest.

Mom approached slowly.

"Father's archive box."

I knelt before it.

The same moon symbol was carved into the lid.

Another blood seal opened it.

Inside were documents wrapped in protective cloth.

Letters.

Council records.

Maps.

And one small recording crystal.

Cassian stared.

"That's impossible."

"What is it?"

"Memory crystal. Old magic. Expensive even then."

Mireya's voice shook.

"Aurelius used them for Alpha testimony."

Rowan carefully lifted it.

"Can we play it?"

Mom pointed toward a stone pedestal.

"There."

We placed the crystal into the slot.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then silver light filled the chamber.

A translucent image appeared.

An older man.

Silver hair.

Golden eyes.

My grandfather.

Aurelius Lunaris looked directly ahead.

"If this recording is being viewed, then either I survived long enough to regret making it, or Lunaris has fallen."

Nobody breathed.

"The attack we fear will not come from rogues. It will come through Council authority."

Rowan's expression hardened.

"For months, I have investigated unauthorized access to our bloodline records. The trail leads to three men."

The crystal flickered.

"Councilor Vael of the Western Seat."

"Alpha Garron Snowe of Silvercrest."

Cassian swore.

Then Aurelius named the third.

"And Council Security Director Marcus Vale."

Rowan went completely still.

I looked at him.

"Vale?"

His face had lost all color.

He whispered, "My grandfather's brother."