Chapter 51 The Headmaster's Warning
POV: Luna
I don't sleep that night.
Instead, I sit at my desk with my grandmother's journal open in front of me, reading by the light of a small lamp.
The warning note sits beside the journal, those four words staring at me.
"Your past will catch up."
Who left it? And what do they know about my past that I don't?
I turn another page in the journal. My grandmother's handwriting is beautiful, each letter carefully formed. But the words themselves are dark.
"The mark appeared on my sixteenth birthday, just as Mother warned it would. She told me to hide it. To never let anyone know what I am. But how can I hide when the moon itself has branded me?"
I trace my fingers over my own mark. The crescent moon partially swallowed by shadow.
My grandmother had the same mark. The same curse.
And she died because of it.
I keep reading, flipping through pages that detail her time at Silverwood. Her training. Her friendships. Her first love.
The boy who betrayed her.
His name was Marcus Thorne.
I freeze.
Thorne.
Like Professor Marcus Thorne, the combat instructor?
No. That can't be right. That was over fifty years ago. Unless...
Unless Professor Thorne is much older than he looks. Unless he's been alive long enough to have known my grandmother.
My stomach twists.
Could he be the one who betrayed her? Who got her killed?
I need to know more.
I set aside my grandmother's journal and reach for another one. This one is older, the leather binding cracked and faded.
The first page has a family tree drawn in careful detail.
Eclipse wolves going back generations. Each name has a date of birth and date of death written beside it.
Every single one died before age thirty.
Most before age twenty-five.
My hands shake as I trace the line down to my grandmother. Elara Eclipse. Born 1935. Died 1954.
Nineteen years old.
And below her name, connected by a thin line, is my mother's name. And below that, mine.
Luna Eclipse. Born 2009.
No death date yet.
But if the pattern holds, I have less than ten years left.
Maybe less than five.
The thought makes me sick.
I push the journal away and stand up, pacing my small room. Nova shifts in her sleep but doesn't wake.
I can't just accept this. Can't just wait to die like every Eclipse before me.
There has to be a way to break the curse. To survive.
I return to the desk and pull out another journal. This one is written by someone named Helena Eclipse. She lived in the 1800s.
Her entry catches my eye immediately.
"The rogues come for us because we can see them. Not just their physical forms, but their true nature. The darkness that drives them. The corruption that feeds them. We are the only ones who can truly kill them, and they know it. That is why they hunt us. Why they will always hunt us."
My blood runs cold.
Rogues are hunting me because I can kill them?
But I don't know how to do that. I barely know how to control my wolf, let alone use some mysterious Eclipse power to destroy corrupted creatures.
I keep reading.
"The key is in the mark itself. When we shift, our power flows through it. Not just wolf power. Ancient power. Moon magic mixed with something older. Something that existed before the packs. Before the Academy. Before civilization itself."
I look down at my mark again. It's glowing faintly in the lamplight.
Or maybe it's glowing on its own.
I press my other hand over it, and immediately I feel something. A pulse. Like a heartbeat that isn't mine.
The mark is alive.
Or at least, something inside it is alive.
A knock on my door makes me jump.
I shove the journals into my desk drawer and go to answer it.
It's Ryder.
He's still dressed in his training clothes, like he hasn't been to bed yet either.
"Luna. I saw your light on. Can we talk?"
I glance back at Nova, still sleeping, then step out into the hallway and close the door softly behind me.
"What's wrong?"
"I wanted to check on you. After tonight. After Darius." He runs a hand through his hair. "And after the Headmaster. What did he say to you?"
I hesitate. The Headmaster told me to trust no one.
But this is Ryder. He's saved my life. He's trained me. He's been nothing but honest with me.
Hasn't he?
"He told me about my bloodline," I say carefully. "About what it means to be Eclipse."
"And?"
"And apparently I'm cursed to die young and violently."
Ryder's jaw tightens. "That's not going to happen."
"How can you be so sure? Every Eclipse before me is dead. Every single one."
"Because you're stronger than them. Smarter. And you have people who will fight for you." He steps closer. "I'll fight for you."
The intensity in his voice makes my chest tight.
"Why? Why do you care so much?"
He doesn't answer right away. Just looks at me with those amber eyes that see too much.
"Because you're worth fighting for," he finally says. "And because I think you might be the one who breaks the curse."
"What makes you think that?"
"Your power. The way you shifted during the full moon. The way you survived three rogue attacks. You're different from the others, Luna. Stronger."
I want to believe him. Want to believe I'm not just another Eclipse destined to die.
But the journals tell a different story.
"I need to learn more," I say. "About my family. About the Eclipse power. The Headmaster gave me access to the restricted section."
Ryder's eyes widen slightly. "He did?"
"Is that unusual?"
"Extremely. Only senior faculty and a handful of students have that privilege." He pauses. "What did you find?"
"Journals. Dozens of them. All written by Eclipse wolves. All of them dead now."
"May I see them?"
I hesitate again.
Trust no one.
But Ryder has earned my trust. Hasn't he?
"Come on," I say, opening my door quietly. "But we have to be quiet. Nova's asleep."
We slip back into my room. I pull the journals out of my desk drawer and spread them across the surface.
Ryder picks up my grandmother's journal and flips through it carefully.
"Elara Eclipse," he reads. "She was your grandmother?"
"Yes."
His expression darkens as he reads. "She was betrayed by someone she loved. Someone she trusted completely."
"I know. A boy named Marcus Thorne."
Ryder goes very still.
"What?" I ask.
"Marcus Thorne." He looks up at me. "That's Professor Thorne's name."
"I know. But it can't be the same person. That was fifty years ago."
"Some wolves live a very long time, Luna. Especially powerful ones. Professor Thorne is over two hundred years old."
My stomach drops.
"So he could be the same Marcus Thorne who betrayed my grandmother?"
"It's possible."
"And he's been teaching here this whole time? Knowing what he did?"
Ryder sets down the journal. "I don't know. But I think we need to find out."
Before I can respond, a sound outside my window makes us both freeze.
A howl. Long and mournful.
Then another. And another.
Multiple wolves. Close to the Academy.
Too close.
Ryder moves to the window and looks out.
"What is it?" I whisper.
"Rogues. At least a dozen of them. Surrounding the grounds."
My mark burns suddenly, hot and painful. I gasp and clutch my wrist.
"Luna?"
"They're here for me," I say, the certainty settling over me like ice. "They're here because I revealed myself tonight."
Another howl splits the night. This one louder. Angrier.
Nova wakes with a start.
"What's happening?"
"Get dressed," Ryder orders. "Both of you. Now. We need to get to the Great Hall. The faculty will initiate lockdown protocol."
We scramble to get ready. I shove the journals back into my desk drawer, all except my grandmother's. That one I tuck into my jacket.
Ryder leads us out into the hallway. Other students are emerging from their rooms, confused and scared.
"Stay calm," Ryder calls out. "Move quickly but don't run. Head to the Great Hall."
We join the stream of students flowing through the corridors. I can hear the howls getting louder. Closer.
The rogues are testing the wards.
And from the sound of it, the wards are failing.
We reach the Great Hall to find it already crowded with students and faculty. Professor Cael is at the front, directing people.
"First years to the back. Second and third years to the middle. Fourth and fifth years near the doors. If the wards fail, we'll need fighters at the front line."
Darius is already there with his friends, looking excited rather than scared. Like this is an adventure instead of a potential massacre.
Nova grabs my hand. "Are we going to die?"
"No," I say firmly. "We're not."
But I don't know if I believe it.
The howls outside grow louder. More frantic.
Then, suddenly, they stop.
The silence is worse than the noise.
Everyone holds their breath, waiting.
That's when I feel it.
A presence. Powerful and ancient and wrong.
Not a rogue wolf.
Something worse.
My mark flares hot, the pain making me gasp.
And then I hear it. A voice in my head. Cold and hungry and very, very interested.
"Found you, little Eclipse. Found you at last."
The lights in the Great Hall flicker and die, plunging us into darkness.
Someone screams.
And I know with absolute certainty that my past has finally caught up to me.