Chapter 8 The Second Contract
DANIEL'S POV
My hands shook as I held the contract with my sister's name written in our father's careful script. The paper felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, heavy with betrayal that spanned generations. Lisa stood frozen beside me, her face drained of color in the dim basement light. I'd survived torture, starvation, and countless fights to the death, but nothing had ever gutted me like watching my little sister realize our father had tried to sell her too.
"When?" Her voice came out broken, barely a whisper. "When was he going to do it?"
I scanned the document, my eyes catching on the date that made everything worse. "Your eighteenth birthday. Two months before Mom died." The timeline clicked into place like a lock opening, revealing secrets that had festered for years. "But Mom's death changed everything. Look at the date it was drafted versus when it was supposed to be executed."
Lisa's hands trembled as she took the contract from me. Her finger traced the dates, and I watched understanding dawn across her face like a sunrise nobody wanted to see. "He couldn't go through with it after losing her. The guilt—"
"Consumed him," I finished quietly. "That's why he became so overprotective of you. That's why he sent you away when the elders demanded it instead of fighting for you to stay." I pulled her into my arms, feeling her body shake against mine. "He was protecting you from a worse fate, little sister. From himself."
She broke then, her sobs muffled against my chest. I held her like I should have ten years ago, like I would have if our father hadn't torn us apart. My own eyes burned with tears, I thought I'd forgotten how to cry. We had both been pawns in our father's game of guilt and redemption, pieces he'd moved around the board trying to atone for sins that kept multiplying.
"I hate him," Lisa whispered against my shirt. "I hate that I still love him. I hate that part of me hopes he's alive just so I can scream at him for this."
"I know." And I did. I have lived with that same poison for a decade.
Footsteps on the stairs made us break apart. Ryan appeared in the doorway, his frame blocking most of the light from above. His eyes found the contracts spread across the floor, and his face went white as bone. Not surprisingly, he knew something..
"You knew," I said flatly. Not a question.
Ryan's jaw clenched so hard I heard his teeth grind. "About you. Alpha Marcus told me years ago, swore me to secrecy. He said if anyone ever found out, it would destroy the pack's faith in his leadership." He looked at Lisa, and the pain in his eyes was real enough to cut. "I didn't know about the second contract. I swear I didn't know about you."
"But you knew he sold my brother." Lisa's voice was ice. "You knew and you said nothing."
"He was my Alpha." Ryan's voice cracked on the title. "I took an oath of loyalty meaning silence. I was seventeen when he told me, I was terrified of the responsibility, and he used that fear to bind me." He stepped into the basement, and I saw the weight he'd been carrying in the slump of his shoulders. "But there's more. When the elders wanted to send you away three years ago, when I stayed silent, Marcus threatened to complete the second contract if I fought for you."
The words hit Lisa like a physical blow. She swayed on her feet, and both Ryan and I reached for her but she pushed us both away.
"So everyone was protecting me by hurting me." Her laugh was bitter, broken. "My father planned to sell me. You stayed silent to save me. The elders sent me away for my own good. I'm so protected I can barely breathe."
Ryan moved closer, careful like he was approaching a wounded animal. "I should have fought for you anyway. I should have trusted that we could face anything together. I was wrong, Lisa. I've been wrong for three years."
I watched them stare at each other, the air between them thick with everything unsaid. Ryan still loved her. Maybe he had never stopped.
"This is touching," I said, breaking the moment before it could become something I didn't want to witness. "But we have bigger problems. These contracts prove our father was dealing with rogues for years. If the pack finds out—"
"They won't." Nathan's voice startled us all. He stood on the stairs, his face grim. How long had he been listening? "Not yet. But Sophia's already making moves." He descended the rest of the way, his usual easy smile replaced with a serious look. "She's made her first official decision as temporary Alpha. She's moving into the Alpha's residence within the hour."
"That was fast," I muttered.
"There's more." Nathan looked at Lisa with something like pity. "She's invited representatives from Silver Creek Pack for what she's calling an alliance discussion. They arrive tomorrow morning. All fifty of them."
Ryan swore viciously. "That's not a diplomatic party. That's an occupation force."
"Exactly." Nathan crossed his arms. "She's consolidating power before anyone can challenge her. By the time the week is up, she'll have Silver Creek warriors embedded in our territory, treaties signed that can't be easily broken, and the pack so dependent on her leadership that choosing Lisa would seem reckless."
Lisa sank onto a box, her head in her hands. I wanted to comfort her, but I didn't know how. Comfort wasn't something I had learned in my years with the rogues.
"We will fight her," Ryan said firmly. "We should find proof she set the fire, that she murdered the nurse, and we expose her before she can solidify control."
"With what proof exactly?" Lisa asked tiredly. "A glimpse of blonde hair? Suspicions? She has covered her tracks too well."
I pulled out my phone, scrolling through messages I'd been ignoring. One name jumped out at me, and my blood ran cold. I looked up at my sister, at Ryan, at Nathan. "We might have a bigger problem than Sophia's power play."
"What now?" Lisa asked.
"Viktor." The name tasted like ash in my mouth. "The rogue leader who bought me. He's coming to Moonstone territory. His message says he's been invited by someone with authority to negotiate a permanent peace between rogues and packs."
Ryan's eyes narrowed. "Sophia invited him."
"There is more." I met Lisa's gaze, watching her face as I delivered the blow that would change everything. "Viktor is Sophia's biological father. She's not just working with rogues. She was literally raised by them."