Chapter 197: Vampire Luna

Mary stood in the doorway for a brief moment, her eyes sweeping over the dim holding room before locking onto my face. A slow, malicious smile spread across her red lips, her dark eyes flashing with pure satisfaction. She didn't say a single word to us. She simply turned on her heel and walked back out into the sunlit courtyard, heading straight toward the head of security—the very guard leader who had just detained us.

Ava leaned her head close to my ear, her breath coming in quick, shallow puffs. "Luna Amanda... look," she whispered frantically, her voice trembling so violently it sounded like a dying leaf. "It's Mary."

"I know, Ava," I muttered out of the corner of my mouth, my gaze fixed firmly on the heavy iron door frame. "Calm down."

Ava swallowed hard, her small hands twitching in her lap. "Oh, we are completely cooked," she whined under her breath, squeezing her eyes shut for a second. "Because the last time I remembered, you and her were definitely not on good terms when you two last spoke."

A cold, bitter smirk pulled at the corner of my mouth. "I know, Ava," I replied, my voice dropping into a dangerous whisper. "And trust me, 'not on good terms' is a massive understatement. I literally made her cry like a helpless child the last time we saw each other."

Ava let out a quiet, terrified squeak, her hands flying up to cover her lips.

"Silence, Ava!" I snapped in a sharp, quiet growl, cutting my eyes toward her. "Your body language is radiating pure fear right now, and you're going to get us caught. Just stay calm."

"Okay... okay," Ava stammered, pulling her trembling arms in tight and wrapping her hands around the straps of the heavy bag resting between my feet, holding onto it as if it were a life raft.

Outside the door, the muffled sound of low voices continued for a few long, agonizing minutes. Finally, the heavy boots of the guard leader crunched against the gravel, and he pushed the iron door open, stepping back inside the small office. His thick eyebrows were drawn together in a heavy frown, his hand resting casually on the butt of his sidearm.

"Well... bad news," he grunted, looking between the two of us with an unreadable expression. "The Alpha is not picking up his phone. Or rather, I should say his Beta is not answering my calls either. So the two of you are going to have to be detained right here in this room until we get direct verbal confirmation."

I sat up straight in my chair, leaning forward slightly as my dark pupils narrowed into sharp points. I injected as much cold authority into my raspy voice as I could muster. "But we were sent directly by him. He is going to be absolutely furious if we don't bring these goods to his study today. He gave us a strict deadline to be back before noon so he could use the contents immediately."

I tilted my head, letting out a sharp, impatient breath. "Because of the extreme level of secrecy surrounding this mission, he deliberately didn't announce it to the pack, nor did he assign any guards to escort us. That is the exact reason why you were not made aware of our movement in the first place."

The guard leader listened quietly, but his stone-hard expression didn't soften for a second. He crossed his thick arms over his bulletproof vest and shook his head firmly.

"Fine. I have heard everything you just said," he replied, his tone flat and unyielding. "But I still cannot let the two of you step one inch past this guardhouse. At least not yet. The Alpha himself issued explicit, binding orders that no one—and I mean absolutely no one—passes through these gates or enters the main territory without a thorough, mandatory search. No exceptions."

He took a step closer to the desk, leaning down slightly so his broad shoulders filled my vision. "So we cannot defy his direct command. I simply do not have the power to overrule him, even if your story is true."

His dark eyes glinted with a sharp, dangerous threat as he added, "But the two of you had better bear this one thing in mind... if this story turns out to be a pathetic lie, and you have dared to use the Alpha's name to cover your tracks, you will both be executed before the sun sets today."

Ava gasped softly beside me, her knuckles turning completely white against the bag. I kept my jaw set, glaring right back into the guard's eyes without blinking.

Just as the suffocating silence in the room reached a breaking point, the iron door clicked open once again.

Mary stepped smoothly into the room, her high heels clicking loudly against the concrete floor. She glanced at the guard leader with a smooth, confident smile, her shoulders thrown back with complete arrogance.

"It's been fully confirmed," Mary stated smoothly, her voice light and dripping with fake sweetness as she motioned toward us with a wave of her manicured hand. "They are with me now. You can go ahead and let

them come with me."