As the moonlight condensed into dark spots like pus and blood on the surface of the bronze cage, Alyssa was strangling the seventh Moon Howler Wolf with the new animal taming whip given by Lucien. The silver wolf skull inlaid on the whip handle hurt her palm, and every time she swung it, the ancient runes etched into the leather oozed a blue light like ice chips.
"Watch out for claws," Lucien leaned against the carved railing on the second floor of the warehouse. What was swaying in the crystal glass was not wine at all - it was virgin blood mixed with silver powder. "This beast tore the balls of three grooms last month."
Alyssa's thorn tattoo twitched under her ribs. The pupils of the Moon Howler expanded into a dark vortex in the dark. She saw her own reflection gradually distorted in the abyss: wearing a crown of thorns, holding a bloody taming whip, and the broken bodies of Cain and Lucien piled at her feet. When the illusion dissipated with the whip wind, the iron chain around the beast's throat had already wrapped around the third wailing stone pillar.
"This is a reward for you." Lucien threw down the new handle of the taming whip. The moment Alyssa caught it in mid-air, her palm suddenly burned - the silver wolf rune drilled into her flesh like a living maggot, branding the blood contract totem on her palm. She had seen that pattern in the delivery room where her mother died of dystocia, and on the remaining pages of the marriage contract in the secret compartment of Kane's study...
The pain made her kneel on one knee. The Moon Howler took the opportunity to attack, and the iron chain scraped blue sparks on the stone pillar. Alyssa swung the whip while kneeling, and the rune whip tip pierced the beast's forehead accurately. Amid the dying howl, she saw the marks on the inside of the whip handle: a silver wolf wrapped in thorns, exactly the same as the tattoo on Lucien's collarbone.
"How does the blood contract taste?" The young lord walked to the side of the cage, and his silver sable cloak swept across Alyssa's bleeding palm. "This is an ancient courtship ritual used by the Silver Wolf Clan."
There was a scraping sound of iron coming from the cellar. Alyssa's tattoo suddenly grew longer, and the thorn pattern wrapped around the whip handle along her arm. When Lucien's emerald ring brushed against the back of her neck, a kind of cold contractual power crawled along her spine into her skull - the memory fragments of three hundred years ago suddenly exploded: the silver wolf bride chained to the altar was piercing her fingertips with thorns to sign the marriage contract.
"The freight team will leave at 9 am," Lucien put the key into her bloody collar, "and you will be responsible for making sure these beasts don't howl too loudly when they pass by the Wailing Wall."
Alyssa kicked the still twitching wolf corpse away and found seven black iron boxes piled in the shadow of the warehouse. The wolf head relief on the surface of the box was bleeding, and the shape of the keyhole was exactly the same as the blood contract totem she had just obtained. When she pretended to wipe the whip handle and approached, the nearest iron box suddenly made a scratching sound - a living sacrifice.
The moment the moonlight passed over the wailing stone pillars, the bronze chandelier on the warehouse dome suddenly caught fire. In the green flames, Alyssa saw the blood contract totem on her palm spreading out branches, resonating with the crown tattoo on Lucien's collarbone. The young lord suddenly grabbed her wrist and pressed his bloody fingertips to her throat: "Do you feel it? Our contract is eating away at the imprisonment spell cast by my brother."
Kane's breath came in the night wind. The moment Alyssa shook off Lucien, the black iron scepter shattered the warehouse skylight. The moonlight pierced into the darkness like a silver dagger, illuminating half of a child's arm sticking out from the gap in the iron box - the fingertips were still hooked with a faded engagement bell.
"My dear brother," Cain lifted Lucien's sable cape with the tip of his scepter, "you are stealing my stock even for blood sacrifices?"
Alyssa retreated behind the wailing stone pillar, the blood contract totem burning in her palm. When she pressed her bloody palm to the human face relief on the stone pillar, the wailing expressions suddenly froze - the silver wolf language from three hundred years ago roared in the skull, revealing the true purpose of the wailing wall formation: not to suppress resentment, but to transform the fear of the dying into nutrients for the crown of thorns.
Lucien's laughter was like a venomous snake swimming through the rubble: "Brother should thank me, these sacrifices will allow the crown to bloom early..."
He suddenly tore open his clothes, and the crown tattoo on his collarbone was bleeding. Alyssa's Eclipse Flame ignited uncontrollably, burning along the taming whip towards the iron box - inhuman screams suddenly erupted from the box, and blood-colored steam condensed into a miniature crown on the dome of the warehouse.
Kane's scepter swept across, cutting off the crown of blood mist. Alyssa took the opportunity to wrap the taming whip around the crossbeam chain, and the rune whip tip reflected the secret passage map in the moonlight - the route completely overlapped with the smuggling route recorded by the bone whistle. When she swung towards the warehouse secret door, the blood contract in her palm suddenly hurt, and the totem pattern twisted into a chain shape and pulled her back to the ground.
"The contract has taken effect." Lucien licked the blood stains on the corner of his lips and chuckled. Alyssa's thorn tattoos grew to her neck, spelling out the complete terms of the marriage contract under her skin. She finally saw the flashing silver wolf runes - not only a blood contract, but also a contract to mortgage her soul to the Crown of Thorns.
The sound of bells breaking came from deep in the warehouse. Alyssa crushed the hemlock seeds hidden between her fingers, and the juice mixed with the burning pain of the blood pact seeped into her meridians. When the eclipse flame ignited again, the crown tapestry of Cain's bedroom emerged in the center of the flame - only this time, the Silver Wolf Queen with thorns piercing her heart had her face.
The copper key thrown by Lucien was inserted into the lock of the secret door. Alyssa heard the baby crying in the sound of the lock core turning. It was not from the iron box of the living sacrifice, but from the depths of her bones, an ancient cry mixed with the power of the blood covenant. The moonlight was suddenly swallowed by dark clouds. In the last moment before the warehouse fell into darkness, she saw that the thorn pattern on Kane's scepter perfectly matched the blood covenant in her palm.
The secret door closed behind her, but the totem on her palm began to cool down. Alyssa stroked the silver wolf skull on the taming whip and found that it was not a decoration at all - it was a shrunken human skull with the engagement number of the first generation of Silver Wolf King engraved on the top of the head.
Outside the warehouse, the horn of the caravan's departure sounded. Alyssa's blood contract totem suddenly twitched, and in the severe pain, the phantom of Lucien emerged: "Don't forget, dear, the power of the contract is most delicious when the moon is full..."
When the moonlight pierced through the dark clouds, she saw that the totem on her palm had spread to her wrist. Between the twisted silver wolf runes, Kane's profile quietly emerged - as if some kind of older contract was awakening.