The Wolfless Luna's Revenge: Returning With His Secret Twins-Chapter 278

~Samantha~

The outpost sat at the very edge of our pack territory, right where our land met the wild forest that nobody in their right mind wandered into.

"This is it?" I checked the map the twins had somehow pulled from the token against the coordinates on Killian’s phone. "This is where the Silver Claw Clan operated?"

"According to the records, yes." Killian studied the building with narrowed eyes. "One of their main outposts before they disappeared."

Dominic still wasn’t talking to me but still he stood between me and the outpost entrance like a bodyguard, which was starting to get on my nerves.

"Can you give me some space?" I tried to step around him but he moved with me. "I am not going to vanish into thin air if you stay away for a second."

"You wanted to come here against my advice. Fine. But you’re staying within arm’s reach the entire time."

"Dominic, you’re starting to annoy me."

"It’s not up for negotiation, Samantha."

I bit back about seventeen different arguments because honestly, we didn’t have time for another fight. The sun was already starting to sink and the last place I wanted to be was stuck in a creepy abandoned building after dark.

"There’s something off about this place." I walked the perimeter, my nose wrinkling. "Can you smell that?"

"Shadow energy," Killian answered. "Old, but it’s still here."

"How old?" I pulled my jacket tighter even though I wasn’t cold.

"Hard to say." Killian crouched near the entrance, running his fingers along the stone. "Years, maybe. But shadow corruption doesn’t fade on its own."

Dominic’s hand found mine and squeezed. When I looked up at him, his expression had softened just a little. "We don’t have to do this. We can turn around right now."

For a second I almost said yes. Almost let him pull me back to the car and drive home where it was safe and warm and our kids were probably driving Maggie crazy with questions.

But then I thought about my mother. About that werewolf dying just to get the token to me. About ten years of not knowing what really happened.

"I have to."

"I need to know."

"Okay. But I go in first."

"Both of us go in first," Killian said, already moving toward the door. "You watch her back, I’ll watch the front."

"I don’t need you to take orders from you." Dominic countered.

"Can we please just do this without fighting?" I pushed past both of them and grabbed the door handle. "I’m going in. You two can stand out here for all I care!"

The door swung open before I finished.

"Stay close." Dominic’s hand landed on my lower back.

We moved through the main room slowly, our footsteps echoing too loud in the silence.

"There." He pointed to a door at the back, half-hidden behind an overturned bookshelf. "Basement entrance."

It took both Dominic and Killian to move the bookshelf enough for us to squeeze through.

A large table dominated the center of the room, covered in maps and papers held down by stones.

Shelves of book.

"They left everything." Killian moved toward the table, careful not to disturb anything. "Like they planned to come back."

"But never did." I walked along the weapon racks, my fingers trailing over the hilts.

Dominic stayed at my side, his eyes scanning every shadow.

"Sam." Killian’s voice was tight. "You need to see this."

He stood at the table, holding a leather-bound book that looked newer than the others. I crossed the room and leaned over his shoulder to read.

It was a diary. Personal entries written in slanted handwriting.

Day 46: The Queen grows weaker. The shadow infection spreads faster than we anticipated. She refuses to tell her daughter what’s happening. Says the child is too young to bear this burden.

My heart stopped. The Queen. My mother.

My hands shook as I reached for the book but Dominic grabbed my wrist.

"Let me check it first." He took the diary from Killian and flipped through the pages quickly, his eyes scanning for threats I couldn’t see. After a minute he handed it to me. "It’s clean. No curses that I can detect."

I took it with trembling fingers and started reading from the beginning.

Day 1: We’ve confirmed the source. The shadow magic is coming from inside the court. Someone close to the Queen has betrayed us.

Day 12: Three more clan members fell ill today. The shadow poison works slowly but it’s effective. We’re running out of time to find the traitor.

Day 23: The Queen ordered us to investigate everyone with access to the royal quarters. We suspect someone codenamed "Black Moon" but we have no proof.

"Keep reading," Killian said quietly.

Day 35: Black Moon struck again. Four of our best warriors dead, their bodies found drained of all life force. The Queen is preparing for war but she’s too weak to fight. The shadow infection has reached her heart.

Day 41: We tracked Black Moon to the old temple but lost the trail. Whoever they are, they know our movements. They’re always one step ahead.

Day 44: The Queen made us swear an oath. If she falls, we protect her daughter at all costs. We are to hide the evidence, scatter the clan, make it look like we vanished. Black Moon cannot know the child survived.

I had to blink hard to keep reading.

Day 47: It’s over. The Queen is gone. Black Moon disappeared the same night she died. We suspect they got what they came for but we don’t know what that was. Following the Queen’s final orders, we’re disbanding. Destroying all records. The child must never know what her mother faced. She must never know about Black Moon.

This will be my final entry. If anyone finds this diary, know that we failed our Queen but we will not fail her daughter. The Silver Claw Clan lives on in shadow, watching, waiting. Until the day Black Moon returns.

And they will return.

The diary ended there. No signature. No name.

I stood frozen, the book heavy in my hands, my mother’s death suddenly so much more real and horrible than I’d ever imagined.

She hadn’t just died. She’d been murdered. Poisoned slowly by someone she trusted. Someone close enough to access the royal quarters.

"Sam." Dominic’s arms wrapped around me from behind. "Breathe."

I hadn’t realized I’d stopped breathing. I sucked in air and it hurt, like my lungs had forgotten how to work.

"Black Moon," I whispered.

"They poisoned her and watched her die and then they just disappeared like it was nothing."

Dominic turned me around and pulled me against his chest. I let him, too numb to fight, too devastated to care about our earlier argument.

"We’ll find them," he said into my hair. "Whoever Black Moon is, whatever happened, we’ll figure it out."

"How?" I pulled back to look at him. "This happened ten years ago. The trail is ice cold. The clan scattered. There’s nothing left to find."

“You were determined a while ago, what happened now? You’ve to finish what you started.” He encouraged me.

Just then my phone buzzed multiple times.

I pulled it out with shaking hands and my stomach dropped.

Seven missed calls from Maggie. Three texts from Reynold.

What could have happened?

I opened the messages to find out the twins were trying to sneak out to find us. Out of shock and panic, I immediately called our Gamma.

“I got your calls, please tell me my babies are still at the castle.” My heart was speeding too fast.

“They are safe and sound, Luna. You don’t have to be so worried, they were just asking so many questions about Silver Claw Clan but I stopped them before they escaped.” He assured me, sending a wave of relief through me.

Those twins would always find a way to make me have a panic attack.