The Alpha King And His Chosen Luna novel Chapter 232

The missing-letters-

The missing letters

(Isla)

Clam

The next morning came quickly.

I woke before Caius and sat quietly for a while. My thoughts returned to Elder Evander and the question he had asked me yesterday. The more I thought about it, the less sense it made.

Caius opened his eyes a few minutes later.

He looked at me before sitting up. “You didn’t sleep much.” It wasn’t a question.

“I kept thinking about yesterday.”

“So did I.”

Neither of us needed to say what we meant.

A knock sounded at the door.

“Come in,” Caius said.

One of the warriors stepped inside.

He inclined his head respectfully. “Alpha King, Luna Isla, the Council has gathered. Elder Sorin has asked me to escort you to the council chamber.”

“We’ll be there shortly,” Caius replied.

The warrior bowed before leaving.

I looked at Caius.

“Do you think Pryor found anything?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“You think that’s why the Council called us back so early?”

“It could be.”

He stood and reached for his jacket.

“If Pryor requested time before today’s session, he found something worth presenting.”

A short time later, we left our quarters.

Two warriors took their places behind us as we walked through the pack house. Pack members stepped aside as we passed, lowering their heads respectfully. Quiet conversations stopped until we had gone by.

The doors to the council chamber stood open.

Every council member was already seated around the long table. Pryor stood beside Caius’s chair with

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several old ledgers stacked neatly beside him. Their worn covers showed they had been preserved for

many years.

Sorin looked up as we entered.

“Alpha King Caius. Luna Isla

Caius inclined his head.

“Elders.”

We took our seats.

Pryor remained standing beside the table.

Sorim looked toward him.

“You requested time before today’s proceedings.”

“I did.”

“You may begin.”

Pryor rested one hand on the oldest ledger.

“Following yesterday’s request, I searched Wraithbone’s royal archives for every surviving record connected to the Celestial.”

He opened the first ledger carefully.

“Some of these records are centuries old. Others are/copies made after the originals began to fade.”

The chamber remained quiet.

Even Elder Evander watched Pryor closely.

Pryor turned another page.

“Every record agrees on one point.”

He looked around the table.

“Every known Celestial was identified as a child.”

No one interrupted.

“From that moment forward, they were placed under the protection of their King.”

He closed the ledger.

“None disappeared.”

I looked at Caius.

Nothing about my life matched what Pryor had just described.

The missing letters

Serin leaned forward slightly.

“So Luna Isla’s case stands apart from every known record.”

“It does.”

“There is no example like this?”

“No, Elder.”

Halvon folded his hands.

“Then someone made certain history did not unfold as it always had.”

No one disagreed.

Pryor opened another ledger.

“I also searched every report exchanged between Wraithbone and neighboring territories concerning unusual births and rare bloodlines.”

He removed an aged document from between the pages.

“There is no report concerning Luna Isla.”

Sorin studied the page.

“So Wraithbone was never informed.”

“No.”

Pryor looked around the chamber.

“Nor was any neighboring territory.”

Evander spoke for the first time.

“If Ashcrest concealed her existence, that would explain the missing report.”

Halvon turned toward him.

“It explains one missing report.”

He paused briefly.

“It does not explain how an entire pack kept the existence of a Celestial hidden for nearly two decades.”

The chamber fell silent again.

Pryor reached for the final ledger.

“There is one more matter.”

Every eye turned toward him.

“I found references to correspondence exchanged between Wraithbone and the Council regarding the

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Celestial.”

He rested his finger on the page.

“The index lists seven letters

He looked up.

“The letters themselves are gone.”

No one spoke.

Sorin broke the silence.

“Gone?”

Pryor nodded once.

“I searched every section of the archives twice.”

His voice remained calm.

“I found no trace of them.”

A thoughtful silence settled over the council chamber.

Yesterday we had searched for answers.

Today we had discovered that someone had gone to great lengths to make sure those answers could never be found.

Halvon looked from one elder to another.

“Seven letters don’t simply disappear.”

“No,” Sorin agreed. “They do not.”

Pryor closed the ledger before him.

“The archives show no sign of damage. Nothing else connected to that period is missing. Only those seven letters.”

The words settled over the chamber.

Every elder seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Someone had removed them.

Evander remained calm.

“If the letters are gone, then perhaps they were misplaced long ago.”

Halvon looked at him.

“Seven separate letters?”

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“It is possible.”

“It is convenient.”

The two elders held each other’s gaze.

Neither looked away.

Caius finally spoke.

“If those letters existed, then someone believed they were important enough to preserve.”

He rested one hand on the table.

“If they no longer exist, someone believed they were important enough to remove.”

No one argued with him.

Sorin nodded slowly.

“I agree.”

He looked toward Pryor.

“Can you determine when they disappeared?”

Pryor shook his head.