I was haunted by the words written on the wall.
He is dishonest.
Elian had left. Once more.
Like breadcrumbs, blood streaks ran down the hallway from the broken glass panel. However, no alarms or security alerts were set off. Whoever—or whatever—took him was adept at moving undetected.
Scanning the claw marks in the frame, Rowan hunkered down by the window.
"These aren't mine," he muttered.
My heart pounded as I stood motionless. "So, who are they?"
"I'm not sure," he said. However, they entered and exited while I was watching. That shouldn't be feasible.
My fists clenched. "You claimed that this location was secure."
Rowan clarified, "I said it was guarded." "There is a distinction."
"I ought to have stayed with him."
"You would also be missing if you had."
With guilt gnawing at my ribs, I turned away. He came to look for me. He's gone now once more. due to me.
"No," Rowan said as he approached, his tone hardening. "Because of them." Your family has been transformed into a weapon by them. Your blood was branded by them. They are attempting to alter your past. However, this? He gestured toward the wall. "They are to blame for this."
The rage in his voice coiled like a leash as I looked up at him.
"What makes you so concerned?" Breathless, I asked.
His gaze met mine. "Because I understand the pain of losing everything you considered to be yours." And I'm not going to allow them to do that to you.
There was a buzz of silence between us.
Then he took the contract out of his coat.
The same black folder that I believed we had buried in smoke and stress.
"This once more?" I muttered.
"Control isn't the issue here," Rowan stated. "Power is at issue here."
He put the contract between us on the table.
"You want to destroy the program that is pursuing you, find your brother, and learn your mother's secrets? Then I have to fully claim you. Not only for defense. Not only to avoid the Council. I must make you Luna.
I tensed up. "You want me to rule as your queen."
He answered, "I want you to be untouchable." "If you're Alpha-bonded, they can't make you show up if they call you again."
"But this isn't love," I stated bluntly.
"No," he concurred. "War is on. And alliance is necessary for war.
I took a deep breath.
"You said it yourself," he continued in a quiet voice. "This mark wasn't something you requested. However, it belongs to you. The legacy it leaves behind is also.
I examined the folder.
Then at him.
The man who rescued me from the wreckage, who recognized my wolf before I did, and who provided protection encased in chaos and authority.
I detested the sense of stability he gave me.
I muttered, "I don't trust you."
He said, "You don't have to." "You simply need to stand next to me."
I opened the folder.
Clause 1: Crescent Law full bond. voids the authority of the Council.
Clause 2: Agreement on power sharing. Luna has access to resources, a combat force, and an estate.
Clause 3: One-year duration. only when both parties agree.
I muttered, "You really set a term limit on marriage?"
Rowan grinned. "I'm realistic."
"And if I say no?"
"You'll be summoned in two days," he said. "And you'll have to walk into the Council's chamber alone."
I looked down at my mark. It pulsed again—steadier now, like it knew the choice I was about to make.
"I'll think about it," I said, closing the folder.
"You have until nightfall," Rowan replied. "Then we move."
"Move where?"
He leaned in, close enough for me to feel the heat of his body. "To the Vault."
My breath hitched.
"The Crescent Vault is sealed," I said. "It's a legend."
"It's real," he said. "And it's time you saw what's buried beneath your bloodline."
________________________________________
The helicopter ride was silent except for the thrum of blades slicing through the darkening sky. Below, the forest thickened into a wall of green, untouched and ancient.
The Vault was hidden beneath the ruins of an old moon temple, buried deep in the cliffs of Lune Vale. Only the Alpha bloodline could open it. And now… so could I.
Shortly after midnight, we touched down.
The temple was now reduced to rubble, with broken statues, fallen pillars, and moonstone engraved with unintelligible runes. But the energy pulsing beneath the ground was unmistakable.
Rowan led the way to a circular platform carved into the rock.
"Place your mark here," he said, pointing to a center glyph.
I moved forward and touched the chilly stone with my wrist.
My skin's crescent flared into brilliant silver flames.
The earth rumbled.
A hidden staircase spiraled downward into utter blackness, and a metallic hiss reverberated.
I gave Rowan a quick look.
"No going back?"
He shook his head. "That was miles ago that we passed."
We descended into the earth, the air growing colder, thicker.
A vault door, shaped like the full moon and made of steel and silver, loomed at the bottom. The same mark that we both had is in the middle.
Rowan touched one side with his palm.
On the other, I put mine.
The door opened with a groan.
Rows of relics inside. Scrolls. Weapons. Ancestral light faintly illuminates memory stones.
And there was a big, sealed pod pulsing with blue light in the center of the chamber.
"What is that?" I muttered.
"The prophecy," Rowan uttered. "The real reason you were born."
The light wavered.
The pod then started to open.
Steam hissed across the chamber floor as it poured out in dense clouds.
And a figure emerged as it cleared.
My eyes are exactly the same.
The crescent marks the skin.
And a grin that made me feel completely cold.
He said, "Hello, sister."
Not Elian.
Not Rowan.
But me.
A mirrored, flawless duplicate.