Chapter 2 - The Cry Beneath the CastleDamian discovered a secret that had been buried for generations.Damian had never been afraid of darkness.
He had fought in caves.
He had crossed enemy territory alone.
He had killed rogues beneath moonless skies.
But the sound coming from beneath his castle made every instinct in him scream.
Alora followed close behind.
The hidden staircase was behind an ancient stone wall in the nursery.
When Damian pressed the loose brick Serafina had unknowingly revealed, the wall moved.
Cold air rushed over them.
The crying stopped.
"Did you hear that?" Alora whispered.
"Yes."
They descended.
Ten steps.
Twenty.
Thirty.
The staircase seemed to disappear into the earth.
At the bottom stood an iron door.
Damian pushed.
It opened without resistance.
Inside was a chamber filled with old portraits.
Ancestors.
Generations of Alpha Kings.
And in the center sat a cradle.
Empty.
Alora stopped.
"There is no baby."
Damian looked around.
The room was silent.
Then he saw blood.
Tiny footprints crossed the stone floor.
They led toward a second doorway.
Damian followed.
The hidden room contained shelves of old documents.
On one wall hung a family tree.
Alora's attention froze on a name.
"Wren."
Damian moved beside her.
Under Wren's name was another.
Finn.
Then another.
A third child.
Lucian Voss.
Damian frowned.
"I don't have a third child."
Alora touched the parchment.
"This isn't a family tree."
"What?"
"It's a prophecy."
Before Damian could answer, footsteps echoed behind them.
He turned.
Serafina stood in the doorway.
"You found it."
Damian's sword was immediately at her throat.
"You knew this place existed?"
Serafina did not move.
"Your mother showed me."
"You've known for years?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because she made me promise."
Damian's eyes burned.
"What promise?"
Serafina's lips trembled.
"To protect the third heir."
Silence.
"There is no third heir," Damian said.
Serafina looked at Alora.
"There will be."
Alora felt a strange chill.
"What does that mean?"
Serafina stepped closer.
"Your bond isn't only about mating."
Damian's grip tightened.
"Explain."
"Long before you were born, the Voss bloodline was cursed."
She pointed toward the family tree.
"Every few generations, the Alpha King's true mate bears a child with extraordinary power."
Damian scoffed.
"I don't care about legends."
"You will."
Serafina's eyes filled with tears.
"Because someone knows about the child."
A crash came from the nursery above.
Damian spun around.
A guard screamed.
Then another sound echoed through the castle.
A howl.
Not Damian's.
Not Alora's.
A rogue howl.
Damian ran upstairs.
He reached the nursery just in time to see the window shatter.
A black-cloaked figure leapt through the broken glass.
Wren and Finn woke screaming.
The stranger grabbed Finn.
Alora screamed.
"FINN!"
Damian transformed halfway.
Bones snapped.
Fangs emerged.
His wolf lunged.
The cloaked intruder threw Finn toward the wall.
Alora caught the child.
Damian tackled the attacker.
The figure hissed.
"Too late."
Then bit down on a small capsule hidden inside his mouth.
Poison.
The attacker died instantly.
Damian searched the body.
Only one object remained.
A black ring.
A thorn engraved across the metal.
Alora stared.
"The Thorn pack."
Damian slowly looked at Serafina.
Serafina's face had gone white.
"No."
Damian's voice was cold.
"Why do you recognize that ring?"
May you like
She whispered:
"Because I gave it to him."
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