Chapter 4 - The Truth Hidden Beneath the Grave
The man standing on the balcony whispered: "Arthur... you were never supposed to find out what happened beneath Crescent Valley."
Arthur raised his eyes.
The voice was familiar.
Too familiar.
Because it belonged to the person who had spent five years telling him goodbye.
Arthur's closest friend.
The man who had stood beside Kora's empty coffin.
The man who had cried with him.
The man who had helped him survive.
Arthur's hands slowly tightened.
"Come down."
Nobody moved.
The entire cathedral waited.
The man on the balcony looked older than he had five years ago.
Not because of age.
Because of guilt.
Arthur had seen that expression before.
On soldiers who knew they had failed.
On people carrying secrets too heavy to hide.
But never on him.
"Why?" Arthur asked.
His voice was dangerously calm.
"Why did you let me bury her?"
The man closed his eyes.
"Because if you knew the truth that night, you would have died trying to find her."
Arthur stepped forward.
"And you thought lying to me was better?"
"No."
The man looked down.
"I thought keeping you alive was the only thing I could do."
Arthur laughed quietly.
There was no happiness in it.
"Five years."
The words echoed.
"Five years I woke up believing my mate was gone."
His eyes became colder.
"Five years I blamed myself."
The man looked away.
"And you knew."
Silence.
That silence answered everything.
Arthur turned away from him.
Not because he forgave him.
Because if he looked any longer, he was afraid what he would do.
Kora's name still burned inside his mind.
Alive.
Hidden.
Waiting.
He turned toward Elena.
"You said you kept her alive."
Elena nodded.
"Yes."
"Where is she now?"
Elena hesitated.
That hesitation immediately caught Arthur's attention.
"Where?"
She looked toward the photograph in his hand.
"The person who took Kora away from Crescent Valley knew she would eventually try to return."
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
Elena did not answer.
Instead, she walked toward the table and placed another document beside the others.
"This is the transfer record."
Arthur looked down.
The paper was old.
Official.
Stamped with the seal of a secret Lycan medical facility.
His expression changed.
"This facility doesn't exist."
"It doesn't officially exist."
Arthur looked at her.
"What does that mean?"
Elena lowered her voice.
"It means someone powerful created a place where people could disappear without anyone asking questions."
The cathedral became silent.
Arthur picked up the document.
The name at the bottom immediately caught his attention.
Pendleton.
His own family name.
His blood turned cold.
"No."
Elena watched him carefully.
"Arthur..."
"No."
He threw the paper onto the table.
"My family had nothing to do with this."
Nobody responded.
And that scared him more than an answer.
Because everyone in the room looked like they already knew.
Arthur looked at Beatrice.
"You knew too."
Beatrice looked down.
"I'm sorry."
The apology made his anger return.
"Don't apologize."
His voice sharpened.
"Tell me."
Beatrice wiped a tear from her cheek.
"My father discovered the truth after Kora disappeared."
Arthur stared.
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"Because he was afraid."
"Of what?"
Beatrice looked at the guards.
Then at Arthur.
"Of the people who ordered it."
Arthur felt his chest tighten.
"Who ordered it?"
Nobody spoke.
Then Elena answered.
"The same person who arranged this wedding."
The room went completely silent.
Arthur slowly turned toward Beatrice.
Her face changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
Not guilt.
Not deception.
Fear.
"Beatrice."
She looked at him.
"I didn't know."
Arthur watched her carefully.
"Didn't know what?"
"That you would be the target."
A cold feeling moved through the cathedral.
"What does that mean?"
Beatrice looked at the veil.
"The wedding was never meant to unite our families."
Arthur stepped closer.
"Then what was it meant to do?"
She whispered:
"Bring you into the open."
The words landed like a weapon.
Arthur looked around.
Three hundred guests.
Security.
Advisers.
Family members.
Everyone gathered in one place.
Everyone watching him.
A perfect trap.
His wolf awakened.
"Who invited them?"
Nobody answered.
Arthur turned toward the guards.
"Check every person in this cathedral."
The guards moved immediately.
But before they could begin, every light suddenly turned off.
Again.
Darkness.
A scream.
Then a sound.
A single gunshot.
Not from a weapon.
From the old sound system.
The speakers above them crackled.
A woman's voice filled the cathedral.
Arthur froze.
Because he knew that voice.
"Kora..."
The recording continued.
"Arthur, if you are hearing this, then they failed to stop you."
Nobody breathed.
Arthur stepped toward the speakers.
The voice continued.
"I wanted to come back."
A pause.
Then:
"But someone close to you made sure I couldn't."
Arthur's eyes moved toward his friend.
The man looked devastated.
The recording continued.
"Arthur, don't trust the person who says they protected you."
Everyone looked at each other.
The message was designed to destroy every bond in the room.
Then another sound appeared.
A heartbeat.
Arthur's face changed.
Because behind the recording...
There was another voice.
A child.
Small.
Quiet.
Arthur stopped moving.
The entire cathedral heard it.
"Mom..."
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Arthur looked at Elena.
"What was that?"
Elena's expression changed completely.
She looked afraid.
"Arthur..."
"What was that?"
She swallowed.
"There is something else you don't know."
The silence became unbearable.
Arthur stepped closer.
"Tell me."
Elena looked at the floor.
"Kora wasn't alone when she disappeared."
Arthur's heartbeat slowed.
"What are you saying?"
Elena looked up.
"She had someone with her."
Arthur stared.
"Who?"
Elena opened the final page of the file.
A photograph slipped out.
Arthur caught it.
His hands started shaking.
The picture showed Kora.
Older.
Different.
But alive.
And standing beside her was a small child.
A child Arthur had never seen before.
On the back of the photograph were four words.
"Your daughter is alive."
Arthur stopped breathing.
The cathedral doors suddenly slammed shut.
Then a woman's voice came from behind him.
A voice he had not heard in five years.
"Arthur..."
May you like
He slowly turned around.
And standing at the entrance was Kora, holding the hand of a little girl who looked exactly like him...
