The Alpha King And His Chosen Luna novel Chapter 291

The box beneath the study

(Isla)

Claim

We left Greyhaven without returning to the main settlement. The warriors rode ahead while Zeron sent word to Ashcrest about our arrival. I sat beside Caius with Derek’s answers running through my mind. The box mattered more than anything he’d said.

By the time Ashcrest came into view, the current leaders were waiting for us. They met us near the entrance and bowed to Caius. None of them questioned why we’d returned without warning. Zeron’s message had clearly made the order clear.

“The study?”

One of the leaders stepped forward.

“Sealed as ordered.”

I looked toward the home where I’d spent most of my life. Returning felt different now that Derek and Helene were gone. I no longer saw it as the place where I belonged. It was simply somewhere I’d survived.

Caius walked beside me as we entered. Zeron and Raith followed while the others remained outside. Nothing had been moved in Derek’s old study since the leadership change. The door had been locked after his removal.

“Where did he say?”

“Under the floor.”

I crossed to the place Derek had described before we left Greyhaven. His old desk still stood near the wall. According to him, the box was beneath the floor directly behind it. Caius moved the desk aside.

Raith crouched and examined the boards.

“One has been lifted before.”

I moved closer. There was a narrow space around one section that I wouldn’t have noticed without knowing what to look for. Raith worked his fingers beneath it and pulled. The board came free.

Something black rested underneath.

My breath caught.

The box beneath the study

“There.”

Caius crouched beside the opening. He didn’t reach inside immediately. The Keeper symbol was visible across the top exactly as Derek had described. Seeing it outside Vaela’s

memories made everything feel different.

“Don’t touch it yet.”

I looked

Caius.

“Wh

know what was done to it.”

ight. Varen and the Keepers had known things about Celestials that even Lyrienne understood. Opening something they’d left behind without knowing what it could do twise. I stayed where I was.

on examined the space around the box.

Nothing else is there.”

Caius looked at me.

“Can Vaela sense anything?”

I waited. Vaela came forward and seemed to study the object through me. There was no fear

from her.

‘It’s old.’

‘Can I touch it?’

‘I think so.’

I trusted her. I crouched and reached into the opening. The moment my fingers touched the black stone, warmth passed through my hand.

A memor

I say

lov

d me.

5 now. He placed the box beneath the floor and ear the desk watching him. Then everything

The box beneath the study

“What happened?”

“I saw Derek hide it.”

That meant Vaela’s ability worked on the box too. More importantly, the memory hadn’t harmed either of us. I reached down again and lifted it from the opening.

The box was heavier than it looked. The Keeper symbol covered most of the lid. Smaller markings ran along the sides. I recognized some from the Celestial chamber beneath Frostvale.

“This was made for someone like me.”

Caius studied it.

“Can you open it?”

Claim

I placed the box on Derek’s desk. There was no lock that I could see. When I tried lifting the lid, nothing happened.

“It won’t open.”

Vaela moved closer.

‘The symbol.’

I placed my palm over the Keeper mark. Nothing changed. Then I remembered how Varen’s stone box had opened when I touched the divided circle.

I closed my eyes.

‘Show me.’

Warmth moved through my fingers again. This time, the memory wasn’t Derek’s. The study disappeared.

A stone chamber surrounded me.

I saw the sleeping baby immediately.

side the stone where I slept. The same dark covering from Vaela’s earlier is face. The black box rested in their hands.

(1

face either. He carried something small and placed it inside the box. The

The box beneath the study

first wolf closed the lid.

‘Look at him.’

Vaela tried.

The memory moved before his face became clear. I saw the box placed beside me. Then the hidden wolf touched my forehead.

The ime disappeared.

my eyes.

as watching me.

did you see?”

meone put something inside.”

looked down at the box. Whatever had been placed there had remained untouched for more than twenty years. Derek hadn’t opened it.

“Can you see what it was?”

“No.”

I tried the lid again.

This time it opened.

Everyone moved closer. I stared inside without reaching for anything. A folded piece of cloth covered whatever lay beneath it.

I removed the cloth.

There was a small silver seal underneath. Beside it rested a folded letter. A name had been

front. written across t

M

er had written this had known the name my parents gave me before That meant the person responsible had known exactly who I was.

at the letter.

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