Chapter 101 Ancient Sins
KAEL POV
The archives smelled like decay as I descended the stone steps, torch in hand, following Aria deeper into Darkfang's oldest records. Thomas and Darion flanked me, all of us searching for answers before nightfall.
Before Lira had to expose everything.
"These documents go back two hundred years." Aria pulled leather-bound volumes from shelves. "Before Darkfang even claimed this territory."
"Who held it before us?" I asked, though something in my gut already knew.
"Silvermoon." She opened the first book carefully. "This entire mountain range belonged to them for five generations."
"Then how did we" Thomas started.
"Steal it." Darion finished bluntly. "Your ancestors stole it through blood and dark magic."
"Show me." I set the torch in a wall sconce. "Show me everything."
Aria spread documents across the stone table. Maps, letters, battle reports. All written in my grandfather's hand.
"Alpha Thorn, your grandfather, wanted to expand Darkfang's territory." She traced the borders. "But Silvermoon held the most strategic position. Mountain passes, water sources, fertile valleys."
"So he negotiated." I read the first letters. "Offered trade agreements, peace treaties"
"Which Silvermoon rejected." She pointed to responses. "Alpha Ashborne—Lira's grandfather—refused every offer. Said the land was sacred, blessed by the Moon Goddess, not for sale."
"Thorn, killed some silver moon members but even he didn’t have the heart to kill them all, but when Magnus took over as alpha he got creative." Thomas read over my shoulder. "He contacted four other alphas. Redclaw, Ironwood, Shadowridge."
"And Thornfield." I found another name. "Elias's father."
"Five alphas." Aria's voice was grim. "Five bloodlines, all wanting pieces of Silvermoon territory."
"They formed a pact." Darion pulled out a blood-stained document. "Signed in their own blood, look at the wording."
I read aloud: "We, the undersigned, swear by blood and bone to claim what is rightfully ours. The Moonblood line has held these lands through ancient magic. We will break their claim through older magic still. Dark magic. Blood magic. Magic that requires sacrifice."
"Sacrifice." My throat tightened. "They planned genocide from the start."
"Not just genocide." Aria opened a spell book, pages filled with disturbing diagrams. "Magical extinction, they wanted to erase Silvermoon so completely that even the memory would fade."
"How?" I forced myself to look at the drawings. "What kind of magic does that?"
"Blood ritual magic." She pointed to symbols. "You need willing participants, a significant location, and a massive sacrifice. They chose the autumn equinox, performed the ritual at Silvermoon's sacred temple, and killed every wolf they could find."
"Except Lira." Thomas said quietly. "She survived."
"Because her mother Vera was powerful enough to create a protection." Aria found another page. "She used her own life force to hide Lira, shield her from the curse's detection."
"The cellar." Understanding hit me. "That's why Garrick kept Lira there. Not just cruelty—magical containment, the curse couldn't find her underground, in silver chains that suppressed her power."
"Exactly." Aria nodded. "He thought if she never awakened her abilities, the curse would remain dormant. No Moonblood power meant no trigger."
"But I triggered it." I felt sick. "By bonding with her, by making her stronger."
"You gave her a reason to fight." Darion corrected. "To claim her heritage, that's always going to happen eventually."
"The curse feeds on broken bonds." I repeated Lira's words. "Because the original magic was cast to break the Silvermoon pack bond and to shatter their unity completely."
"Yes." Aria closed the spell book. "Every wolf killed while bonded to their pack, their mates, their families. All that severed connection became fuel for dark magic."
"And now it wants payment." Thomas paced between shelves. "From the bloodlines who caused all that suffering."
"It doesn't just want payment." I found more documents. "Look at this. From my father Magnus, written years before he died."
I read: "The curse grows stronger each generation. My father felt its pull but felt it more. My sons will feel it worse. Eventually, it will consume us entirely. Unless the Moonblood line is completely eradicated. No heir, no vessel, no counter-magic to challenge what we created."
"He knew." Rage built in my chest. "Magnus knew the curse would destroy us and still tried to kill Lira instead of breaking it."
"Breaking it meant admitting what Darkfang did." Aria said gently. "Meant facing the pack's sins and accepting consequences."
"What consequences?" I demanded. "What happens if we admit everything?"
"Territory forfeit." Darion answered. "If Silvermoon has a living heir—which Lira is—then legally, morally, and magically, this land belongs to her."
"All of it?" Thomas looked shocked. "The entire mountain range?"
"Everything Darkfang has held for years." Aria confirmed. "Would revert to Silvermoon's rightful alpha."
"Lira." I sat heavily on the stone bench. "She'd own our territory."
"She'd own what was always hers." Darion corrected. "What your family stole through murder."
"The pack will never accept that." Thomas said flatly. "They'd rather fight than surrender everything."
"Then they'll die fighting." Aria pulled out a final document. "Because this is the purification ritual, it is the only way to break the curse permanently."
I read the instructions, my blood running cold with each line.
"The Moonblood Luna must enter the spirit world." Aria translated the ancient text. "Confront the vengeful dead and offer them justice."
"What kind of justice?" I asked, though I suspected I knew.
"Territory returned, names honored. Truth acknowledged publicly." She met my eyes. "And the bloodline leaders who benefit from the stolen land must swear fealty to the Moonblood heir."