Chapter 23: CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Silvana's Point Of View

It's been a month since that disastrous conversation with Garrick in his office. A month of strained silences, simmering resentment, and the ever present feeling that I was walking on eggshells. A lot had happened, actually.

Benedict was eventually killed, and the barrier to the human realm was sealed off once again, now patrolled by the highest ranking Alpha guards. A few rogue werewolves were found lurking in the palace, and well.....as usual they were all captured and killed.

The living monster Garrick had rumored to be, I saw it over and over for the past one month. The glimpses of darkness that flickered in his eyes, the barely suppressed rage.

It terrified me, leaving me questioning everything. Was this a mistake? Was I really falling in love with a beast?

The way he swiftly ordered their deaths, the way he looked satisfied as he slit their necks. It shook me to the core, but then again, that's why he's the strongest despite his age.

I, on the other hand, spent the whole time wasting away in the palace, doing almost nothing other than attending meetings and acting as the figurehead Luna that I am. I barely communicated with my parents, not that they cared. As long as I was keeping the secret safe, as long as I was maintaining the illusion of a strong unified pack, that's all that mattered. Little do they know what's really going on behind these stone walls.

And the crowning ceremony....Don't even get me started. Whenever the questions came up, and believe me they came up constantly, Garrick would simply discard them as if they were nothing more than pesky gnats buzzing around his head.

Now, things were really starting to get tense. The elders were becoming absurd, their whispers growing louder, their glares more deadly and pointed. So were my own pack members, they were extremely worried, their anxieties mounting with each passing day. But I tried to ward everything off, making excuses, claiming that Garrick was too busy dealing with other 'stuff'.

I mean, who am I kidding really? Alpha Darken of the Stormknights practically had his Luna marked and crowned the day before he was going to war! It was a testament to his strength, his commitment. I was running out of excuses, and frankly, I was tired of making them.

"Luna Morgana?" Clara's voice startled me out of my thoughts, snapping me back to reality.

"Yes?"

"Do you need more?" She gestured to the silver dessert tray on the small table next to me.

I looked down at the tray, and I hadn't even realized I had finished my delicate lemon tart. I was clearly eating my feelings. "No, thank you, I'm fine," I said, forcing a smile.

"Alright," she said, picking up the tray. She was about to leave when I stopped her.

"Clara..." I began, "Do you really know nothing about those recent screams from those nights?"

Immediately, she tensed, her shoulders stiffening, her eyes darted nervously around the room. She slowly looked up to me, her face pale, then quickly composed herself, forcing a small smile. "No, Luna. I don't. Besides, I've told you, it's nothing,"

Her clipped tone and the way she was avoiding my gaze told me otherwise. But I decided to let it go, at least for now. I had a feeling pushing her would only make her clam up even more.

Frankly, she wasn't the only one acting weird each time I asked about the screams. One of the maids literally claimed she didn't hear anything.

Everyone all said the same thing, dismissing my concerns. It was almost as if I was becoming crazy, imagining things, hearing things that weren't really there.

She bowed, and left the room, leaving me alone with my unsettling thoughts.

For the past few weeks I'd been hearing screams. Not the battle cries of werewolves, not the cries of pains from the dungeon, but something far more disturbing, it was a strangled suffocated sound: like someone was being slowly tortured.

It had never happened before, or maybe it had and I had never noticed it. I heard it loud and clear for the first time three weeks ago, it was so piercing I jolted awake from my sleep, my heart pounding in my chest.

I asked the guards who guarded my chambers at night that day, they claimed to know nothing nor did they hear anything.

I discarded it, then it happened again the second night, same result from the guards, then the third...fourth and now. It's been weeks! Yet still the same.

Even though everyone claimed it was nothing, I knew it was something. Something strange was going on in this palace.

With a sigh, I decided to take a stroll around the palace, to clear my head and find some semblance of peace since I couldn't sleep.

I wandered through the gardens, with two guards following me of course. After the long tiring walk, I eventually made my way to the library. I spent a few hours lost in the pages of a historical text, the stories of past Lunas and Alphas offering temporary escape from my thoughts and troubles.

When I was finally done reading, the sun had long set, and the palace was bathed in the soft glow of moonlight. I decided to return to my chambers now that I was feeling a bit sleepy. The palace was dark and looked empty, but after living here for some time, I knew guards were positioned in strategic positions even at night. I was just rounding the corner near Garrick's chambers when I heard it again.

This time louder and clearer.

The scream.

It was the same strangled suffocated sound that had been haunting my nights.

I looked around and saw that the guards normally stationed at Garrick's chambers at night were nowhere to be seen.

My heart leaped into my throat when I heard the scream again.

Why was it coming from here?