Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Your dad’s underwear has its own story.” Griffin shook his head. “At least his hint was a good one.”
Dad’s words about a person’s underwear speaking volumes about them made sense, especially now. Between the false bottom of the drawer and the button that unlocked the hidden door, his saying was obviously meant to stick with me to help me find everything. The only flaw in his plan was that I was pretty sure I wouldn’t have found the hidden door if not for Bart. “You’re telling me.”
“Um...” Bart’s brows furrowed. “I have a feeling that I don’t want to know.”
“Are we sure it’s safe down there?” Killian walked to the door frame. He peeked his head through the hole, looking down the stairs.
Bart took the first step and looked over his shoulder. “Yes, the room is safe. Most likely a little dusty and small, but safe nonetheless. There’s even a light switch, so we won’t be in the dark.”
I paused, taking a moment to collect myself. I had a feeling that whatever we’d find would alter my reality.
We don ’ t have to go down there. Griffin comforted me. We can head back home and come back later, or not at all.
The idea was appealing, but leaving would be the coward’s way. Whatever was down there was important, and it might answer some questions that had taken root in my mind. That ’ s not an option. Even if I wanted it to be.
I ’ ll be right here beside you , he linked as he placed a hand on the small of my back. If it gets to be too much, we can head back up.
Even if it became difficult, I’d push through. Not knowing things had been a problem this entire time. Everyone else was several steps ahead of us, and even though we were slowly leveling the playing field, time was running out. We needed something to use to our advantage instead of playing defense all the time. And I love you for being right here with me.
Bart continued the trek down the stairs with Killian right behind.
I rushed forward, following Killian before I lost my nerve. Griffin stayed close behind me with Julius taking up the rear.
The stairwell was small, even for me, and I was the smallest of the five of us. I folded my shoulders as I took each step slowly. The wood creaked underneath us but remained secure.
Dust floated around us. Dad must not have come down here for a while.
Well, if he wanted to keep it hidden, he might not have had many opportunities.
Griffin stayed so close that I could feel his body heat on my back. I had a feeling that if he weren’t with me, I wouldn’t have found the strength to come down here. Yeah, I wonder if Mom knew about it. My gut said no. She would’ve insisted that Dad tell me or would’ve shared it with me herself. The day I turned eighteen, only a couple of months ago, she’d told me that I was now a woman and that I needed to take my training with Dad more seriously. My excuses wouldn’t work any longer.
Unfortunately, you ’ ll probably never know. Remorse poured off him. But maybe whatever is down here will shed light on everything.
That was the entire reason I was making myself go through with this.
“Watch your head,” Bart said as he turned to the right, ducking.
Killian reached the bottom and laughed dryly. “You weren’t kidding about a small room.” He glanced at me and winked, but the tension in his shoulders spoke volumes. He was on edge just like Griffin and I were, but he wanted to relax me. He lowered his head and entered the room.
Light flooded the opening as I touched the cement ground and turned toward the room. The rectangular space was around three hundred square feet, which wasn’t large, but not as small as Bart had made it sound. The walls were all beige stone, and there was an air vent in the ceiling, so the area was cooled. In the middle sat a large white marble statue of an angel—a man with strong, chiseled features who stood as tall as Bart. His wings fanned behind him, but that wasn’t what caught my eye. It was the moon sitting in the palm of his hand.
Griffin and Julius brushed past me, and I tried to move, but my legs were frozen. I stared blankly at the statue. “Why is there an angel in my basement?”
The absurdity of the statement would’ve made me laugh under normal circumstances…or at least, I thought so. Hell, I wasn’t sure I knew what constituted normal anymore.
“That’s one reason you’re here.” Bart strolled to a desk in the corner of the room where a journal sat with a note on top.
Another damn journal.
Hadn’t the last one done enough damage?
Anger fueled me, and my strength returned. I marched to the desk and found my father’s neat handwriting once again.
Sterlyn,
If you ’ re finding this, that means that my worst fears have come true. Shadow City has opened the gates once more, and something bad has happened.
Our location has been revealed. I ’ m working on negotiations for another property, but they aren ’ t finalized. I hope that I ’ m being paranoid, but if one group found us, that means others could follow. I ’ m writing this letter in case something happens before I can get us relocated.
I know you must have so many questions, and I hope you never find this. I plan on telling you everything on the new moon. I ’ ve been putting it off because when I learned everything, I learned it with my brother. How I wish you had someone to rely on like Bart and I had each other, but fate didn ’ t have that in your cards.
None of this matters, but if I don ’ t tell you this, I know you ’ ll always be curious. Kevin ’ s new mate came from Shadow Ridge, and she told her former alpha about our location, not realizing the severity of our situation. You ’ ll soon read the journal I left behind that will detail what I ’ m referencing, but just know her mistake wasn ’ t intentional.
So read the journal, and at the very back, I have details on how to contact your uncle for help. Unfortunately, if you ’ re reading this, that means I am dead. Just know that you are a true alpha, and never let any man or woman doubt your capabilities. There is something special in you. Both your mother and I see it. You have a just heart, even more so than most others, and you will be a leader who understands what ’ s best for the entire supernatural race, not just the silver wolves. You are the true embodiment of what a silver wolf is meant to be.
I love you, baby girl. And I will always be watching over you. You deserve to be happy and find a fated mate who will make you even stronger. Please don ’ t be angry with me because everything I ’ ve ever done has been out of love.
With all the love of the moon,
Dad
My throat dried as I blinked back tears. I’d read the letter with his deep, vibrating voice in my mind. I was angry with him, but he had planned on showing me this room and whatever it contained. He’d died the day he was going to bring me down here.
“Babe?” Griffin asked with concern.
“He was going to tell me.” Bart had been shocked that he hadn’t, but the explanation was right there in the letter. “The night of the new moon. He died that day.”
“Well, at least you got a letter,” Julius snapped. His nostrils flared as his nose wrinkled with disgust. “Why are you upset?”
That was the final straw—I couldn’t handle his nastiness anymore. “You aren’t the only one who gets to hurt.” My hands shook as I sneered at the selfish prick. “Just because a witch spelled you and said you were dead doesn’t mean that I can’t hurt, too. I lost my parents, and you never knew them to feel this kind of sting. And as much as it hurts that you never knew them, I hurt because I did . I’m tired of being patient with you. If you can’t be civil to me, then you can go run back to whoever the hell took you and left you as a fucking rogue wolf your entire life.”
Julius inhaled sharply, but his demeanor didn’t change.
“I have a lot to get caught up on, it seems.” Bart rubbed the back of his neck. “And if they have a witch working for them, that means other races know about us as well. But if Cyrus didn’t connect with another pack, I don’t understand how you didn’t know he was alive, especially with your twin connection.”
“Well, I wasn’t alpha, and Dad probably thought he was imagining things.” If I were him, that was what I’d think. “He probably didn’t want to get Mom’s hopes up. When Dad died, I felt, at times, a pack connection, but I thought it was a phantom echo because I’d just lost my pack and I wanted to feel them again.” I paused and thought through what he’d said. “What is a twin connection?”
“It’s a special bond twins have. You two are only the second ones in the silver wolf line and the first twin alpha heirs. You sense each other more than regular linked pack members do, though it’s not as strong as a fated mate bond.” Bart paced in front of the angel statue. “How close by was he?”
Julius cleared his throat, obviously done remaining silent. “I was about fifty miles away, holed up by myself.”
“Far enough that neither link would be strong.” Griffin’s head lowered, and he sighed. Then he lifted his head and glared. “But close enough that you could coordinate attacks on Sterlyn.”
Bart stilled. “You attacked your sister?”
Though Julius answered Bart’s question, he addressed me. “I was told my parents didn’t want me and cast me aside. They said that my parents favored you because you were the rightful alpha heir—that they didn’t want to keep me around in case I tried to challenge you. That my parents were more concerned about your well-being than anything else. That you were their moon,” he said agitatedly. “A woman was hired to take care of me, and some arrogant man said they wanted to help make things right and that they wouldn’t harm any of the silver wolves.”
“A woman and a man?” That piqued my interest. That was the most I’d gotten from him so far. “Who are they?”
“I…I don’t know their names.” Julius frowned and tugged at his ear. “I called them Grace and Topper, but I’ve only seen him a handful of times, and I haven’t seen either of them in years. I only get calls now, but Topper promised that we were righting the wrongs done to me.”
“Well, clearly they were so trustworthy,” Killian deadpanned, his irises turning dark chocolate. “Didn’t them not accepting you as part of their pack tell you something?”
His words made the question pop into my brain. “Why didn’t they make you pack?” I asked Julius.
He chewed on his cheek and averted his gaze. “They were going to after my first shift, but...” He trailed off.
“But what?” Griffin growled with impatience.
“He never shifted.” Bart chewed on his finger, then dropped his hand.
Griffin blew out his cheeks and released his breath. “How is that possible? His wolf would eventually take over.”
I hadn’t even considered that. No wonder Julius was so angry—he wasn’t in sync with his wolf. He had to be at internal war most of the time. “Because the alpha blesses each wolf cub, and they shift with the pack.”
“When they realized I couldn’t shift, that’s when Topper stopped visiting and resorted to phone calls.” Julius's mouth pinched. “And then, a few years ago, they realized that I wasn’t the true alpha. That you were.” He nodded toward me. “So to pay for my keep, he put me in charge of training their guards, since he used so many resources on having me trained from the time I was small.”
“That’s why all the men hunting us have been fighting with guns more than their animals.” Killian spoke slowly. “You couldn’t train their animals.”
“Yeah. Over the years, I've tried to prove my worth and specialized in weapons. I learned quickly and easily.”
Silver wolves were like angels in easily learning the craft of battle.
My blood ran cold.
The angel statue in the room had to explain part of that, and I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to know what it was. Or who.
“Well, as soon as we get out of here, we’ll get you to shift before we go home,” I said. That would most likely be why he was so volatile. His wolf must feel confused, and to make matters worse, trapped. Wolves weren’t meant to be contained inside the human form.
“You’d do that for me?” His lips parted as he flinched. “After everything?”
The answer was simple. “Of course. You’re family.”
Something unreadable crossed his features, but I didn’t want to stare at him and make him feel even more uncomfortable.
As much as I hate to ruin this touching moment, we do need to get back soon. Griffin nodded at the leather-bound journal. Do you want to grab that and head home?
No. I had a feeling that I’d need Bart to answer questions. I need to read it here. But Griffin was right. I needed to stop wasting time.
I sucked in a hasty breath and placed the letter back on the table. I picked up the journal and rubbed my hand over the front. The leather was soft and worn. Gathering my courage, I opened the book, which revealed yellowed pages. I’d expected another of my father’s journals, but this wasn’t his handwriting. In fact, the first entry was dated 1125.
My eyes scanned the page…and the world seemed to shift. I read the first paragraph over and over again. There was no way I understood the words correctly.
Griffin’s anxiety oozed from every pore. What ’ s wrong?
The question was simple, but the answer was anything but. The first paragraph had changed everything I’d ever known, and that alone made me afraid to continue. What other truths would be revealed that I’d rather remain oblivious to? By the end of the book, I might not ever understand who we truly were.
You ’ re scaring me. Griffin's body coiled like he was about to fight whatever was bothering me.
But the truth was just that. Truth. Nothing could change it. I’d read it, and I could never undo it. When Bart had said that the life that I knew would change, he hadn’t been kidding.
This changed everything .
I cleared my throat. I didn’t want to have to repeat the information multiple times, so I might as well get the words out so everyone could hear.
My uncle gave me a sad smile, nodding his head in encouragement.
Now I understood what Dad had wanted, and I was so damn glad Griffin and Killian were here with me. In reality, I was glad Julius was here, too, both of us about to process this new information together. “There is a reason the silver wolves are tied to the moon and stronger than other wolves.”
“Okay,” Killian said carefully. He tried to sound patient, but I could hear his frustration. “Which is?”
“That guardian angel, Ophaniel, impregnated a wolf who lived in Shadow City.” The words sounded foreign to my ears. I’d grown up just accepting we were stronger without questioning why. “She got pregnant, even though it was supposedly impossible. Their offspring was the first silver wolf.”
Griffin gasped. “But that actually makes a whole lot of sense. That’s why you’re tied to the moon and so strong.”
“Not to mention warriors.” Killian moved closer.
“But that’s not all.” The next part was the real kicker.