Chapter 15 A long dead alpha

Chapter 15 A long dead alpha


Chapter Fifteen

Tiara’s POV

The hidden corridor swallowed us whole, sealing behind us with a final groan of stone and magic. The sound echoed like a closing door on everything we had known until this moment. For a breath, darkness pressed around us until the silver veins along the walls flickered awake again, glowing softly with a cold light that pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat.

Maxie tightened his grip on my hand, drawing me close as the ground beneath us shifted gently, guiding us deeper. His heat pressed against my side, grounding me in a way nothing else could, yet his energy was coiled tight, restless, afraid.

Afraid of what I would ask next.

Afraid of what he would have to tell me.

“Maxie,” I said quietly, breath catching in my throat. “What did Elias mean? What history? What happened to me?”

His jaw flexed, the muscle ticking as he stared straight ahead, refusing to meet my eyes. The walls hummed in response to the tension rising between us, the runes glowing brighter as if urging him to speak.

“I will tell you,” he said at last, voice low. “Just not here. Not until we are safe.”

“I am tired of waiting until later,” I whispered, the fear clawing up my throat. “Later never comes. Later is how I died.”

Maxie stopped walking.

Completely.

The corridor quieted. Even the magic stilled, as if the sanctuary itself listened.

He turned to face me, and the look in his eyes stole the breath from my lungs. Pain. Regret. Devotion. A storm of emotions he kept buried under that unshakeable Alpha exterior now trembled at the surface.

“Tiara,” he said softly, “you were hurt because someone twisted your trust against you. Not because of me.”

“But he said you hid something.”

“I did,” he admitted. “Something you asked me to hide. Something you begged me not to reveal.”

My chest tightened painfully. “What did I ask you to hide? I do not remember.”

He brushed a strand of hair from my face, his touch careful, hesitant. “You will remember. And when you do, you will understand why I honored it.”

“But I want to understand now,” I said, stepping closer, my hands trembling. “Please. If you keep me in the dark, I will keep stumbling into danger. I will trust the wrong person. I already did before.”

The mention of my death hung between us like a blade.

Maxie’s expression cracked.

He cupped my cheek, his thumb brushing away a tear I didn’t realize had fallen. “You trusted me,” he whispered. “Even at the end. Even when you thought I stopped loving you.”

My heart thudded painfully. “Did you stop?”

His eyes softened with something devastating. “Never.”

The word trembled between us. I felt it in my bones. In the bond that pulled us closer even with all the broken pieces.

Before I could respond, a deep vibration rumbled through the corridor.

Leo turned sharply. “He is breaking through the secondary barrier.”

Maxie’s eyes flicked to the glowing walls. “We need to move now.”

He took my hand again and we began running deeper into the passage. The ground sloped gently downward, the air shifting from cool to warm, carrying an ancient scent of incense and moonflowers. My wolf stirred in recognition, pressing closer to the surface.

“This tunnel,” I whispered, “I feel like I have walked here before.”

“You have,” Leo said from ahead, his voice echoing faintly. “But you were young. A child. Before the war. The marked wolves were taken to the Moon Chamber during storms to shield their minds from magic interference.”

“I was here?” I breathed.

“Yes,” he said without turning. “You used to cling to Maxie’s sleeve the whole walk.”

Heat rushed through me. “I did?”

Maxie cleared his throat. “You were scared of the dark back then.”

“So you always held my hand,” Leo added. “Even when he complained.”

“I never complained,” Maxie muttered.

Leo snorted. “You complained every time.”

A tiny laugh escaped me despite the terror pressing at my ribs. But the moment faded quickly as the corridor opened into a large chamber.

The Moon Chamber.

A wide cavern carved into the mountain itself, bathed in a soft silver glow pouring from the ceiling where moonlight streamed in through a natural fissure in the rock. The light painted streaks across the stone floor, revealing ancient symbols swirling around a circular platform in the center.

My wolf surged at the sight, pushing so hard that my knees buckled.

Maxie caught me instantly. “Easy.”

“This place…” My voice trembled. “I know it.”

“You were brought here every solstice,” Maxie said. “The Moon Mark was fragile when you were younger. Exposure to this magic strengthened it.”

“I feel… something,” I whispered. “Like the air is calling to me.”

“It is,” Leo said. “The chamber belongs to you.”

I stepped onto the platform, and the runes glowed immediately beneath my feet. A warm pulse traveled up my legs, through my chest, and into the mark over my heart.

The crescent symbol flared bright gold.

Maxie inhaled sharply. Leo stepped back as the lights intensified, swirling around me like threads of magic.

My eyes widened as the chamber deepened in color, shadows twisting into images that flickered too fast to capture. Snippets of memories. Faces. Voices.

And then one voice broke clearer than all the rest.

“Run, Tiara!”

My breath hitched and I clutched my head.

Maxie rushed to me, grabbing my wrists gently. “Tiara. Look at me. Focus on my voice.”

Leo stepped toward the entrance. “Alpha. He is near. I can feel it.”

A faint golden glow seeped into the tunnel behind us.

Cameron.

Maxie swore quietly under his breath. “We are not ready to fight him.”

I trembled violently, the visions cracking open too fast. “Maxie… I am remembering something.”

“What?” he asked quickly.

“A hand grabbed me from behind. A voice whispered in my ear.” Tears spilled down my cheeks. “I thought it was you.”

His entire expression shattered.

“It was not me,” he said, voice thick. “I swear it.”

“I know,” I choked. “But the voice… the voice sounded like you at first.”

Leo went still.

Maxie’s face paled. “You thought it was me when you died?”

“Yes,” I whispered. “For a moment. Before I saw the face. Before I realized it was someone else. Someone who wanted me to believe it was you.”

“Who?” Maxie demanded.

The memory flickered again.

The coat. The boots. The scent. The faint trace of a voice I had once trusted.

“It was someone from the pack,” I said, shaking. “Someone familiar.”

Leo cursed under his breath. “It is him. It has to be him.”

Maxie turned sharply. “Who?”

Before Leo could answer, the chamber trembled violently.

The entrance flashed gold as Cameron forced power into the tunnel.

Leo pushed us back. “He found us. We need to go.”

Maxie grabbed my hand. “Tiara. Listen to me. You remember something else. What is it?”

The memory flickered sharply and I gasped, clutching Maxie’s shirt with trembling fingers.

“I saw… a ring.”

“A ring?” Maxie echoed, confused.

“Yes,” I whispered. “On the hand that grabbed me.”

The image sharpened in my mind.

A silver ring with a black stone.

Leo froze.

Maxie’s eyes widened with slow horror.

“Yes,” Leo whispered. “I knew it.”

My breath shook. “Whose ring is that?”

Leo’s voice lowered to a scared whisper.

“Alpha Marcus.”

Cold shot through my body.

A long dead Alpha.

But a killer still alive in my memories.

Maxie pulled me into his chest as the chamber roared behind us.

Cameron was almost inside.

But the truth already broke something open inside me.

If Marcus killed me…

Then someone brought him into our borders that night.

Someone he trusted.

Someone who betrayed Maxie too.

“Maxie,” I whispered, voice trembling. “I think the traitor is still in your pack.”