Ch. I Refuse to Be Your Luna 270 I Refuse to Be Your Luna 270

Chapter 270 Magnus

Magnus POV

The howl outside the room faded, but nobody spoke.

I remained standing until the last guard closed the doors to the council chamber.

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Then I looked at the people gathered around the long table and understood that there was no version of this conversation that would leave Stonehedge unchanged.

Flourish stood beside Harold. Elara was across from them, while Rhys remained near the entrance with his tablet.

The other elders had taken their seats, though none looked comfortable.

I lowered myself into my chair.

“Ask what you want to know.”

Flourish’s eyes stayed on me.

“Everything.”

I nodded.

“The tunnels beneath Stonehedge were built generations ago by our ancestors. Their was not simply to move between buildings or protect the estate during attacks. They were created to monitor the First Alpha bloodline.”

purpose

Harold leaned forward.

“You said they were built to contain it.”

“They were.”

“Why?”

“Because nobody knew what would happen if the bloodline ever appeared again.”

I looked at Flourish.

“Your ancestors were powerful wolves. Their blood carried authority that other packs recognized even after the original First Alpha line disappeared from active leadership. Some believed that authority could reunite the old territories. Others believed it could destroy the balance that had developed since those territories separated.”

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Flourish folded her arms.

“So you were afraid of me before I was even born.”

“We were afraid of what your existence could cause.”

“That sounds like the same thing.”

“It isn’t.”

Her expression didn’t soften.

“For generations, Stonehedge leaders watched for signs that the bloodline had returned. Every generation was told the same thing. If a descendant appeared, that person had to remain hidden until the council could decide what to do.”

Harold’s jaw tightened.

“Decide what to do with her.”

“With the situation,” I corrected.

“You keep changing the wording.”

He was right.

I looked down at my hands.

“When Elara disappeared, we believed the bloodline had gone with her. We didn’t know she had a child who carried it.”

Elara looked away.

“By the time Flourish was old enough for anyone to notice signs, the council had already decided that ignorance was safer.”

Flourish gave a short laugh.

“You decided my ignorance was safer.”

“Yes,”

“For everyone except me.”

I had no answer that would make that sound better.

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“I kept the tunnels operational because shutting them down would have removed the only system we had for monitoring old bloodline activity. I kept the records sealed because there were people outside Stonehedge searching for the same information.”

“And you never thought I deserved to know?”

“I thought you deserved to live without being hunted.”

Her voice rose.

“You don’t get to call that protection after everything that happened tonight.”

“I know.”

“No, you don’t.”

She pushed away from the table.

“Where is the rest of the passage?”

I stood.

“Flourish.”

“You said there are sealed sections.”

“Yes.”

“Then open them.”

“No.”

Her head snapped toward me.

“Why?”

“Because we don’t know what remains inside.”

“That’s exactly why I need to see it.”

“You’ve already activated one of the oldest seals beneath this estate. We don’t know what that action triggered.”

“And you’re still asking me to trust you?”

“I am asking you to wait.”

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Chapter 270 Magnus

She walked toward the eastern wall.

I moved in front of her.

“Stop.”

She didn’t.

“Flourish.”

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“I’ve spent my whole life being told half-truths. I’m done waiting for people to decide when I deserve the rest.”

She reached for the stone panel.

I caught her wrist.

She reacted immediately.

Her wolf surged through her scent, sharp and aggressive, and her eyes changed.

“Let go.”

I tightened my grip for only a second.

“No.”

She pulled hard.

I hadn’t expected the strength behind it.

Her shoulder drove into me, forcing me backward. I caught myself against the wall before I fell, and the room erupted with movement.

“Alpha!”

Harold stepped forward.

“Stay back,” I ordered.

Flourish had already shifted partway, claws extending from her fingers.

I had never seen her look at me like that.

Not with anger alone.

With refusal.

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“You don’t get to stop me,” she said.

“I am trying to keep you alive.”

“You should have tried that before hiding the truth.”

She pulled free.

My wolf rose immediately.

For one second, instinct nearly took over.

Then I saw her face.

She was no longer the child I remembered standing beside her father during pack gatherings.

She was an Alpha-blooded wolf who had spent one night discovering that almost everything she’d been told about her family had been incomplete.

I lowered my hand.

Flourish turned back toward the wall.

“Open it.”

“No.”

She placed her palm against the stone.

The seal reacted.

A low vibration passed through the chamber.

I stepped forward.

“Don’t.”

The panel began to move.

I reached for her again, but Harold caught my arm.

“Enough.”

I looked at him.

“You don’t understand what could be behind that door.”

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“Then tell us.”

“I don’t know.”

The admission stopped everyone.

I pulled free.

“There are sections even I have never entered.”

Flourish looked at me.

“Then why did you try to stop me?”

“Because some doors were sealed for a reason.”

The stone shifted another inch. A narrow passage appeared.

Cold air moved through the opening. I heard something from inside.

A faint scrape against stone. My wolf reacted immediately.

“Magnus,” Harold said.

I backed away from the opening.

Flourish took one step toward it.

“No.”

She stopped.

I looked at the elders.

They were frightened.

That was when I knew I had run out of choices.

If the sealed passages opened, everything hidden beneath Stonehedge would come to light. Names. Records. Decisions made by people long dead. And possibly things that had never been meant to surface again.

I turned toward the rear wall.

One of the guards noticed.

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Chapter 270 Magnus

“Alpha Magnus?”

I pressed my palm against a section of stone beside the old council crest.

A hidden lock released.

The wall opened.

Harold moved toward me.

“Stop him!”

Two guards rushed forward.

M

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I stepped through before they reached me. The passage closed behind me with a heavy sound.

“Magnus!”

I kept moving.

I knew these tunnels better than anyone still living in Stonehedge. Behind me, I heard the guards searching for the entrance.

They wouldn’t find it quickly. I had made sure of that years ago.