Page 44 of The Red Moon

“So it’s decided,” Clément continues. “You will train my wolves. Teach them control. And on the blood moon, we will pay your father a little visit.”

Nik gives a single, affirming tilt of his head. “Agreed. But I can’t promise they’ll be ready. Not in a couple weeks.”

Clément Duval reaches for a baguette on the plate closest to him and bites off the end. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

Clément leads us through the maze of the castle, passing through different corridors sharing the same stonework of the front wings, but the area he takes us to now is darker, almost neglected. Strings of cobwebs dangle down from the ceiling, and I can’t escape the feeling I have more than a few spiders crawling on my scalp.

“Just a little farther,” the alpha says. “We used this room to chain up the pack on full moons before the outside walls were made impenetrable. And should a shifted be brazen enough to climb those walls—” He pauses and turns toward us, hand jabbing at Nik with an invisible stick. “ZZZzzt.” He makes a shocking sound and grins. “We have humans run point on the perimeter. No successful runaways yet.”

Great. So what he’s saying is even if we tried, we are trapped in this fortress with no chance of escaping. It doesn’t seem to bother Nik, but the rest of us behind him all exchange concerned glances.

“Mr. Alpha,” Alexey interrupts from the back. “When will I be permitted to go to the armory? I still have some things I need to build for big werewolf battle.”

Clément shakes his large head and waves him off dismissively. “Qui, later today.” His words come out in an annoyed huff, and when the answer seems enough to satisfy Alexey, he continues down the hallway. “I say we start with elders and work our way down the pack. Experience with transforming could help them channel their wolf faster.”

Nik undoes the tie strangling his long brown hair and lets it flow down each shoulder. It’s like he’s preparing himself. Getting ready to turn into the monster that had Clément salivating in his council room seat. “A good suggestion. I have one request, however.”

The alpha lurches to a stop and peers at him, one eyebrow raised. “What might that be?”

Nik takes one purposeful step back, standing in line with me. When he speaks again, he urges me forward. “Natalia will be attending each of these training sessions.”

Me? What does he mean I’m going to be in every training session?

A noticeable amount of disbelief skirts across Clément’s face. It’s insulting to say the least, but honestly, can I blame him? I haven’t even shifted yet. “She,” he says and points a finger at me, “is going to train with my pack elders? A pup? No disrespect, Nikolai. Are you sure she can handle it?”

His words cut deep enough to have me take a step back, but Nik doesn’t let me. No, he keeps me in place with a warm hand at my spine. Two syllables beat in my head, bringing the promise of a migraine later. I can’t. I can’t train with wolves who have years of experience with this curse. I am barely able to control my hearing, not to mention the rest of the abilities which have been dormant, so far. How can he expect me to train in the same room with the strongest members of this pack?

I stare at him, silently begging for an answer, but he doesn’t bring those golden eyes to me for once. No, he keeps them on Clément, one side of his mouth tilting to a smirk. “Trust me.”

TWENTY-NINE

NIK

This room is not suitable to teach your pack’s longest kept secret, my wolf says, his voice dripping with discernment. The door slams shut behind us, locking in place. Well, he isn’t wrong. The cobwebs and dust out in the hallway are nothing compared to the neglect found in this forgotten room. Rows of shackles start near the entrance and go as far as the back wall. Clément made every wolf in his pack chain themselves up down here, fighting off the effects of the full moon.

Fighting off their true nature, my wolf disagrees and huffs. No wonder they haven’t been able to control themselves. I can’t argue, not when I only recently realized the strain locking myself up did over the years. There’s something different about these chains, though. They aren’t steel like the ones I kept in LA. These chains cast an uneasy pit at the bottom of my stomach. Silver, my wolf and I say in unison. They’re fucking silver.

“You feel it, don’t you?” Clément says, standing tall at the start of where the sequence of chains begins. “You can shift, sure, but can’t handle a little silver?” His posture tightens, seemingly unfazed by the raw knot twisting mine and surely Natalia’s insides. She drops to her knees behind me, giving small but excruciating whimpers.

“We had a deal, Clément,” I strangle out, fighting the need to double over. Dimitri and Alexey move toward me but I hold my arm to the side, gathering what strength I can manage to keep them back.

The alpha grins wide, his bloodred eyes glowing. “We’ve had deals before, Nikolai Vostik. I’m just making sure this time you know who you’re dealing with before you tuck tail and run again.” He cuts the distance between us, walking effortlessly while I can barely stay upright. “I could kill you right now, you know. You and your precious Nat.” Clément tilts his head, peering over my shoulder at her.

Unimaginable rage burns through my veins, a wildfire starting at my hands and creating an inferno through each of my immovable limbs. The wolf howls inside me, aching to shed the mortal skin containing him.

“I’m not going to do that,” Clément says finally, his large stature relaxing. He tosses something to the ground at my feet, a small piece of metal clanging off the stone floors. “I will, however, take my pound of flesh.”

A key lands in front of me, the unmistakeable grooves and ridges designed to unlock these silver chains. What does he want me to do? Chain myself up? Shackle my arms and legs in what will feel like acid for some sick vendetta?

It’s not too late to kill him, my wolf insists.

Clément struts to the center of the room, unbothered by the poisonous silver infecting the air. “You will remove all of these chains alone,” he says and pauses, glancing from Alexey to Dimitri, and back to me. “If your friends help, no one will leave this chamber alive. You’ve challenged me since you arrived at my home. This is my challenge for you.”

What do you want to do, young Vostik?

It’s a great question. One I’m struggling to even consider while my organs feel like they’re seconds away from combusting. If I kill Clément, we won’t make it ten feet outside of this room. If Dimitri and Alexey try to help, he will kill them where they stand. Natalia can’t defend herself in her current state, not when every breath in reeks of silver. There’s only one option.

I pick up the key and endure the familiar singe of my skin burning the second I touch it. A silver key for silver shackles. Of fucking course. Staggering to the first set, I undo the padlock with a shaky hand and slide the long chain through the anchor buried deep beneath the Duval property. The flesh of my palm melts down to the bone, and when I toss the woven silver to the side, instant relief sets in. I’m healing. But not quickly enough. Fresh blood drips down my fingers. Sweat beads at my forehead and slides down each cheek. I peer up at the alpha and approval emerges on Clément’s face.