The Wolfless Luna's Revenge: Returning With His Secret Twins-Chapter 285

~Samantha~

"Still hate this place," I muttered, staring at the massive stone entrance covered in carvings of wolves mid-hunt at the Wolf Tomb. "Just putting that out there."

Dominic squeezed my hand. "Noted. We’ll make this quick."

Quick. Right. Because nothing involving ancient tombs and magical circles ever went quickly.

We’d come back because of that old parchment we’d found last time, the one with the weird glowing circle drawn on it that neither of us could figure out. Reynold had mentioned something about the Wolf Tomb holding answers to royal bloodline stuff, and since I was apparently neck-deep in royal bloodline drama, here we were.

Again.

"Ready?" Dominic asked.

"I don’t think so." I stepped through the entrance anyway.

The inside was just as I remembered. Dark. Cold. Smelled like something I couldn’t name but definitely didn’t like. Torches lined the walls, already lit, which was either convenient or deeply suspicious.

"Who keeps lighting these?" I gestured at the flames. "Does this place have a maintenance crew we don’t know about?"

"Maybe it’s magic." Dominic didn’t sound like he was joking.

We moved deeper into the tomb, following the path we’d taken before. Past the main chamber with its massive wolf statue. Down the corridor lined with more carvings. Through the room where we’d found Mom’s old journal.

And then further. Past where we’d stopped last time.

The corridor kept going, sloping downward, getting narrower the deeper we went.

"There’s more to this place than we thought," Dominic said, his voice echoing off the stone.

"Fantastic. I love discovering new ways for ancient death traps to kill us."

The corridor ended at a wall. Solid stone. No door. No opening.

Dead end.

"Well, this is disappointing." I turned to head back but Dominic was studying the wall, running his hands over the surface.

"Wait. Look at this." He pointed to faint marks in the stone. Not carvings exactly. More like... impressions. Shapes that almost looked like they were supposed to fit together.

I pulled out the parchment from my jacket and unfolded it. The glowing circle on the paper matched the impressions perfectly.

"It’s a key," I breathed. "The circle is a key to open this wall."

"How do we use it?" 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Good question. I pressed the parchment against the wall where the impressions were, lining them up as best I could.

Nothing happened.

"Maybe it needs blood?" Dominic suggested. "Royal blood specifically?"

"Why is it always blood?" I complained, but I was already biting my thumb to draw a drop.

I smeared it across the parchment where it touched the wall.

The parchment started glowing brighter. The marks on the wall lit up, tracing lines that spread outward like cracks. Then the entire wall just... shifted. Slid sideways with a grinding sound that made my teeth hurt.

Behind it was another corridor. Steeper. Darker.

Leading down into what looked like a basement.

"Of course there’s a creepy basement," I said. "Why wouldn’t there be a creepy basement in the creepy tomb?"

"Want to turn back?"

"And not find out what’s down there? Absolutely not. I’m nosy." I started down before I could change my mind.

The stairs were steep and uneven. I had to use the wall to keep from falling. Dominic stayed close behind me, one hand on my waist to steady me.

We reached the bottom and I stopped so fast Dominic almost knocked me over.

"Holy shit."

The basement was huge. Way bigger than it should’ve been based on the tomb’s layout. And it was packed.

Books. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands. Stacked on shelves that covered every wall. Piled on tables. Some even scattered across the floor like someone had been reading them and just dropped them.

"This is a library." Dominic moved past me, eyes wide. "An entire library hidden under the Wolf Tomb."

"Not just any library." I picked up the nearest book. The cover was leather, worn smooth with age. The title was in a language I didn’t recognize but somehow I could still read it. "These are about magic. Old magic. The kind that’s been lost for centuries."

I opened the book and pages of handwritten notes filled my vision. Drawings. Instructions. Warnings written in the margins.

Spells. These were spell books.

"Sam, look at this." Dominic held up another book. "How to what?"

"How to steal them." His face had gone pale. "There are instructions here for transferring royal blood powers from one person to another."

My stomach dropped. "That’s what Black Moon was trying to do. Steal royal blood powers and use them."

"And they found the instructions here." Dominic closed the book carefully, like it might bite. "In your family’s tomb."

"Which means someone in my family either created this spell or knew about it and kept it hidden." I looked around at all the books. "These aren’t just random magic texts. These are dangerous. The kind of knowledge that could destroy everything if it got into the wrong hands."

"Your mother must’ve known about this place." Dominic set the book down. "That’s why she was so protective of the Wolf Tomb. She wasn’t just guarding her ancestors. She was guarding this."

Made sense. Horrible, terrifying sense.

I started pulling books off shelves, scanning titles. Most were about blood magic. Some about wolves. Others about binding spells and breaking curses.

Then I found one that made my hands shake.

"Dominic." My voice came out weird. "This one’s about the blood moon."

He was beside me instantly. "What does it say?"

I flipped through pages, trying to read the old-fashioned handwriting. "It says the blood moon is when the barrier between shadow and light is thinnest. When shadow power is strongest. And when certain spells can be performed that are impossible any other time."

"Like what?"

I kept reading, my heart sinking with every word. "Like merging shadow power with royal blood to create something new. Something that’s both light and dark. Something that can control both."

"Black Moon’s plan." Dominic’s jaw clenched. "They’re going to use the blood moon tomorrow to finish what they started."

"And if they succeed, they’ll have power over every pack. Every wolf. Everyone." I closed the book, fighting the urge to throw it across the room. "We have to stop them."

"We will." He pulled me close. "We’ll figure this out. Use these books to find a way to counter whatever spell they’re planning."

I leaned into him, letting myself have just a moment of comfort before we had to dive back into the nightmare.

That’s when the door at the top of the stairs slammed open.

We both spun around, Dominic already half-shifting, putting himself between me and whoever was coming.

Footsteps thundered down the stairs. Fast. Angry.

Killian appeared at the bottom, breathing hard, eyes wild.

And furious.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" He looked between us, then at the books, then back at us. "You came here without me? After everything we just went through last night?"

"Killian." I started to calm him down.

"No." He stepped closer. "I trusted you. I showed you that map. Told you things I haven’t told anyone else. And you repay me by sneaking off to the Wolf Tomb and keeping secrets?"

"We’re not keeping secrets," Dominic cut in. "We came here to research. To find ways to stop Black Moon."

"By yourselves. Without telling me. After I specifically said I didn’t know who to trust." Killian’s laugh was harsh. "And here you are, the two people I thought were safe, hiding in a secret library doing god knows what."

"We found this place like five minutes ago," I protested. "We haven’t had time to tell anyone."

"Bullshit." He gestured at the books. "You knew this was here. You came straight to it. Which means you’ve known about it for a while and just never mentioned it."

"What else are you hiding?" He turned on me. "What else have you conveniently forgotten to mention while I’ve been out there risking my life following leads?"

"Nothing!"

"I’m not hiding anything from you, Killian. I didn’t even know this basement existed until today."

"Then why come here now? Why not wait until morning? Why sneak off in the middle of the night?" He stopped. Looked between us again. "Unless you wanted to make sure I wouldn’t follow. Wanted to keep whatever you found here to yourselves."

"That’s not what’s happening." Dominic’s voice had gone dangerously quiet. "You’re being paranoid."

"It looks like you two are working together behind my back. Making plans without me." His eyes narrowed. "I have to wonder if maybe you’re the ones I shouldn’t trust."

"Are you seriously suggesting we’re working with Black Moon?" I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. "After everything? After all the times we’ve nearly died fighting them?"

"I don’t know what to think anymore." Killian’s voice cracked. "All I know is everyone around me has secrets. Everyone’s hiding something. And I’m tired of being the only one left in the dark."

"We’re not your enemies," Dominic said. "We’re trying to help."

"Then why does it feel like you’re working against me?" Killian backed toward the stairs. "Why does it feel like every time I get close to answers, you two are already there, controlling what I see, what I know?"

"That’s not fair," I started.

"Fair?" He laughed again, bitter. "Nothing about this is fair, Sam. Nothing about any of this has been fair since the moment I got involved. And I’m starting to think that’s exactly how you want it."

"Killian, please."

"Save it." He was already climbing the stairs. "I’ll figure this out on my own. Like I should’ve been doing from the start."