Running With Wolves [On Hold]

Chapter 30, Orson

Eleanor's face darkens at my words and I know it's because of what I told her.

I wouldn't lie to her about how serious the situation is now, and not just with the thought of her family knowing she's in Sovern, but with the fact, I still have the key of Alpifilas in my possession.

The last thing I wanted was to get anyone else involved in my plan for the Carmines, being mated to Eleanor wasn't something I thought would ever happen, even though she's got no ties to her family, she still has their name, and for me and my conspirators, it's going to be a problem when they learn of who she really is.

This is all such a mess.

"Eleanor, I'm sorry." I say seriously, I hate seeing how upset she is.

She nods her head without looking at me and it breaks something deep inside of me, and I hate that I caused this, I just wanted to protect her as much as possible from all of this drama.

"Are you hiding anything else from me?" She whispers out so quietly, that I0 almost didn't hear her.

I don't even know how to answer that question, there's so much to say in such little time, I didn't want to put this all on her within the first few weeks of knowing her, it wasn't supposed to be like this, we were supposed to have more time.

She's going to hate me, once she finds out who I am- or what I am and what I've done, or going to do.

I bite my tongue from spilling it all out and bend down to get her to look at me, with my hand under her chin I tilt her head to face me, her eyes finally look at me, a tear falls from the corner of her eye and my heart sinks.

"You want to know everything?" 

Her eyes widen slightly then nod her head as she searches my eyes with her own quizzing ones.

Theirs no way around this anymore, she's my true mate and the deal is already done, she's in this now, I was a fool to believe I could keep this from her for so long, the past was bound to catch up with me and affect my life once I found a mate, I just didn't think finding my mate would happen before I completed my objective.

I get up from the ground and hold my hand out for Eleanor to hold, she grabs hold of my hand and I pull her up from the chair. 

My chest is clenching painfully from the way she is looking at me, and all I can think of what kind of face she will make once I tell her everything.

I go to my desk and shove everything on it off the desk, which surprises Eleanor. 

"What are you doing!?" She shrieks out as a glass smashes as I move it from my desk.

I look back at her as I grip the edge of my desk and smile.

"You wanted to know everything, I'm showing you." 

She looks at me confused but I ignore it and begin to lift my desk with my hands until it stands on its own at one end, I feel Eleanor step closer to me as she stares at what my desk was hiding.

"Is that..?"

I bend down and let my canines come through, I bite into my wrist until it draws blood then I place my wrist above the markings guarding the passageway, I let my blood touch flow onto the old words surrounding the markings three times, that's all the passage needs to allow us access.

I stand up and lightly move Eleanor back as the passage opens, revealing the stairway down to the room that only a few know of, for good reason, what's down there could possibly get me and everyone involved killed, it's still too early to go through with the plan, if the wrong person found out now, it would fuck everything up for us.

I take her hand in mine and intertwine our fingers as I pull her with me to the secret passageway. "It's safe." I tell her before I take the first step down the stairs.

Once we are far enough down the passageway, I hear the passage close again, along with my desk moving back to its original position.

I lead her down the steps until we reach the door leading to the only thing left that I have kept from Eleanor, the one thing I wanted to keep from her, for her own safety.

But I can't keep hoping for the impossible, she's in this now, there is no going back after this.

"Sorf qoy." (Dirty blood) I say the password, instantly opening the doors.

Eleanor gasps beside me as I walk into the room with her still in my hand, all eyes in the room turn to face me with surprise on their faces.

I turn to face Eleanor and she's looking around completely out of her depth at what she's seeing, and she should be, this place is over ten thousand years old in Sovern, nobody knows of its existence unless you are part of this.

Eleanor tugs on my hand and I stare down at her, meeting her worried eyes look up at me.

"What is this place?"

Before I could answer her, a voice I know stops me. "Orson? Fin's ojil?" (What's wrong) Lark says, coming up to me and Eleanor, but he hasn't seen her yet from my back blocking his view.

I turn and that's when he sees Eleanor with me, his eyes widen, as does Eleanors.

"Lark? What is going on? What is this place... and these people?" She asks, her eyes traveling around warily as her hand grips mine tighter.

I look around with pride as I look into the eyes of those in the room. The room is filled with ancient runes and relics containing magical components that were once worshipped in our realm, until the Carmines found power, we worshipped our gods and goddesses and practiced the four components of magic, until it was made illegal by the crown, not only that but the practice had stopped completely hundreds of years ago, but that's not what this place is, this place is much more than honoring how things used to be.

The secret order my mother, her mother, and the mother before hers had founded long ago, and so has been kept secret for thousands of years, the orders sole purpose is to protect the realm from what we've been planning for over a thousand years now, and we're so close to our goal.

Once the key of Alpifilas fell onto my lap the way it did, I knew this was meant to happen, just like how it was written in the book of Alpifilas, I was meant to meet Eleanor and be her mate, without her or the key none of this could be made possible, Eleanors parents knew the importance of the key the day they took it, after all, they took it not only for leverage against Croix Carmine, the King but for the order. 

I had only recently found out that June and Joseph Carmine were meant to escape with the key all those years ago and give it to my mother, but instead, Joseph died and June went into hiding with the key and a newborn child, the order had thought they died, and the key was missing or never taken since no news of the key being gone was reported. 

But now, with the key in our possession, Alpifilas will be ours, and we can stop the Carmines rule once and for all, by releasing Alpifilas upon this world.

I look to Eleanor and smile, there is so much she has yet to learn of Alpifilas, and what Alpifilas truly is.

The history books of Sovern couldn't be any more wrong, so much of our history was rewritten to hide the truth of the night Alpifilas was captured inside the box, so much of history had been forgotten, but the few of us in the order who still remember, still hope.

I will free Alpifilas, kill Croix and his sick and twisted family members and free the people of Sovern from his tormented grasps, no longer will my people starve, beg and slave away for the likes of people in power.

"This is what's going to save our people."