The Wolfless Luna's Revenge: Returning With His Secret Twins-Chapter 286

~Samantha~

Killian was still pissed off when the growl echoed through the basement.

Not from any of us. From somewhere deeper in the library, behind the stacks of ancient books.

We all froze mid-argument.

"What was that?" I whispered, fear shooting through my spine.

"I don’t know." Dominic had already shifted into protective mode, positioning himself between me and whatever was coming. "But nothing good lives in places like this."

Killian stopped looking furious and started looking concerned. "Now we’re going to die down here because you two dragged me into your secret tomb adventure."

"We didn’t drag you anywhere," I hissed. "You followed us, remember?"

Another growl. Closer this time. Followed by footsteps that definitely weren’t human.

A giant werewolf emerged from behind the bookshelves. Gray fur streaked with white. Scars covering his face and arms.

This wolf was old. Not ancient but definitely past his prime fighting years.

We all tensed, ready to fight or run depending on what happened next.

Then the werewolf shifted to human form. An older man, maybe late fifties, with the same scars visible on his skin. He wore simple clothes that looked like they’d been down here for a while.

"Took you long enough to find this place," he said, his voice rough from disuse. "I was starting to think nobody would ever come back down here."

"Who are you?" Dominic demanded, not relaxing his stance.

"Silas Crane." The old man inclined his head slightly. "I served under your father, Alpha Dominic. Back before everything went to hell."

Dominic’s eyes widened. "Silas Crane is dead. He died in the shadow attack fifteen years ago."

"I let people think I died." Silas moved closer and I noticed he limped slightly. "After the attack, your father asked me to guard something important. Something that couldn’t fall into the wrong hands. So I’ve been down here ever since, making sure nobody unauthorized gets near these books."

"Fifteen years?" I couldn’t wrap my head around it. "You’ve been living down here for fifteen years?"

"Someone had to." He shrugged. "These books contain knowledge that could end our world if used wrong. Your father understood that. Made me swear to protect them no matter what."

"You’ve been down here alone all this time?"

"Not alone. The Wolf Tomb keeps me company." Silas smiled slightly. "And occasionally someone stumbles down here and I have to scare them off. But you three are the first ones who got past the entrance properly. Used the blood key and everything."

"So you’ve just been sitting here in the dark reading dusty books for over a decade?" Killian sounded skeptical. "That’s what you want us to believe?"

"I don’t particularly care what you believe." Silas turned to look at the shelves. "I know my duty. That’s enough."

"If you served my father, then you know about Black Moon," Dominic said. "About what they’re planning."

Silas’s expression darkened. "I know. I’ve known for years. Been trying to figure out how to stop them from down here, but information is limited when you never leave."

"Can you help us stop it?" I asked. "Do you know how to counter what they’re doing?"

"Maybe." He moved to a different shelf, scanning titles. "But it’ll require the same three elements the original spell uses. Royal blood, Alpha power, and a willing sacrifice. Except we’ll need to reverse the process instead of completing it."

"A willing sacrifice?" Killian’s voice was less tense. "You want one of us to volunteer to die?"

"Not die. Channel." Silas pulled out another book. "The sacrifice doesn’t have to be permanent. They just need to willingly give their power to fuel the counter-spell. It’ll hurt and leave them weak for weeks, but they’ll survive."

"I’ll do it," I offered immediately without thinking.

"No." Dominic’s hand closed around my wrist. "We’ll find another way."

"There isn’t another way." Silas looked at me with something like respect.

"There has to be. I can’t put my mate in such a risky position." Dominic growled.

"It might come to that if we don’t stop Black Moon." Silas set the book on the table. "But we have time to prepare. And to figure out exactly where Black Moon plans to perform their ritual."

"How do we do that?" Killian had moved closer, drawn into the conversation despite his earlier anger. "They’ve kept everything hidden so far."

"Not everything." Silas pulled out a map from under the table. "I’ve been tracking shadow energy patterns from down here. Anywhere Black Moon sets up for a major spell, there’s a buildup beforehand. And I’ve been sensing something massive in one specific location for the past week."

He pointed to a spot on the map. Deep in the forest. Near the old Wolf Altar we’d heard about but never actually seen.

"The Wolf Altar," Dominic breathed. "That’s where they’re going to do it."

"Makes sense." Silas nodded. "It’s the most powerful spot in the entire territory for blood magic. If they want their spell to work, that’s where they’ll go."

"Then that’s where we’ll be waiting for them." I looked at the map, memorizing the location.

"Risky." Silas studied me. "If they sense the counter-spell before they start, they’ll just move to a different location."

"Then we hide it." Killian was looking at the books now, his anger apparently forgotten in favor of strategy. "We set it up to look like nothing’s there until the exact moment we need it."

"That could work." Silas actually smiled.

My phone buzzed. Text from Devon.

Mom we’re playing with the young Silver Claw wolves! They’re teaching us cool stuff!

Wait. What?

I called him immediately. "Devon, what young Silver Claw wolves? Where did they come from?"

"Reynold brought them!" He sounded excited, not scared. "He said they’re the children of the warriors who disappeared. They’ve been living in hiding this whole time and now they’re back! They’re so cool, Mom. They can do tricks and everything."

"Put Reynold on the phone. Now."

Shuffling sounds. Then Reynold’s calm voice. "Before you panic, they’re completely safe. I’ve had people watching over these kids for years, waiting for the right time to bring them back into the pack. Now seemed appropriate."

"You’ve been hiding Silver Claw children this entire time and didn’t think to mention it?"

"I was following orders. From your mother, actually. She made me promise to keep them safe until the threat against the royal family was handled. Since we’re dealing with that threat now, I figured it was time."

I rubbed my temples. "How many kids are we talking about?"

"Five. Ages ranging from ten to fifteen. All trained in basic combat and shadow detection. And before you ask, yes, they’ve been briefed on the situation and yes, they know to stay within the manor’s protected boundaries."

"Are they okay? The twins aren’t freaking them out with their... everything?"

"Actually, the twins are helping them." Reynold sounded amused. "Apparently some of the kids still have residual shadow corruption from when their parents were taken. The twins are using their purification power to clean it out. They’re calling it ’catching bad guys.’"

Of course they were.

"Fine. But keep close watch. I mean it, Reynold. If anything happens to those kids or my twins,"

"Nothing will happen. You have my word."

He hung up before I could say more.