* * *

Remus dropped down and instantly shined a light ether way, showing that they were on a crossway and it caused him to huff. "Yeah, we'll need the map!" He called up, his voice echoing and he cursed. Hoping that there weren't any rogues who were using this as their home base, though any wolf scent was indeed old and intertwined with murky wetness that he didn't have any doubt that this place flooded in the winter to spring season.

Which was confirmed when he stepped in a small puddle that caused him to groan. "What is it?" Jackson called out, but chuckled in seeing what discomforted his Alpha.

Sure wolves had a natural tendency to see better in the dark, but there was not even a lick of proper sunlight that could offer them any leeway to which side of the tunnel they were headed.

Aurora called out the directions to ensure they made it to one of the many marks, but the ever so often sneeze from Rebekah reminded the rest of the wolves how damning their headache was getting, or in Remus' case—How close they were getting to snapping his jaw from the tension.

The sudden sound made all the wolves and two others to freeze, to what they could only assume to be rocks crumbling down. Which caused the witch to shiver once again as she jumped onto her mate's back.

"What sort of torture is this?" She hissed her repeated joke into her mate's back, the feeling of his closeness numbed the effects of the silver but only slightly.

"I think that's the point, darling. It's as the Alpha said. If we're exposed to this for days on end, I'm sure the spike in my head would simmer a little bit. Hopefully." The single-file line shared their grumbles in agreement, however, the falling stones did not cease at all.

Nor was it timed, as Rebekah thought there could be a type of machine still operating. However, it was simply the earth reminding them they were at her mercy, and they certainly were when there had been a window break through the wall and Remus huffed.

"Are those tracks?" Remus beckoned, and the rest of the light soon shined through to reveal just what he labled as—And a flash of a moving cart caused a few of the wolves to jump right alongside Rebekah's shreek.

"Sorry, sorry! I don't do well with jump scares!" She said, lightly bumping her forehead into her mate in complete embarrassment for not keeping herself contained. Though a moment later, Aurora had a similar response as her sweater had been caught by a jagged rock in the wall.

One of which would've been smashed by Jack's defense if she hadn't stopped him. "Hey...Jacky, I'm fine, see...?" She said, but Remus smirked in seeing that his friend refused to leave her side now and cautiously made sure he passed by each and every crack safely.

"We should be coming up to the cavern, most of the tunnels seem to be connected here—The main entrance just looks like a dead end. Good thing you saw this Bekah." The she-wolf praised and the witch hummed in response.

"Omen saw it...Oh, the two males found another set of letters." She called out, and Remus couldn't understand the connection of a familiar, but he certainly could still feel his beast.

And even Remus was starting to feel mildly uncomfortable with the silve, as if his breath was being swiped away when he took the first few steps into the cavern. Sure the confinement of the tunnel was claustrophobic, but something about standing in the middle of never-ending darkness made him shiver.

"Do you think there's anything flammable in the room?" Rebekah questioned just as her mate allowed her back to the floor, and just as Remus shined his light near them, he caught Enzo taking a knee with fear in his eyes.

"Better stay out of her general range, unless you want your fur to burn?" He teased, and instantly the entire party crouched onto the ground as Rebekah had let out a rather ingrained scream—The fire ejecting from her hand had come in the form of a ball circling the room which allowed those to take a better look.

However, within its contact with the walls, small candles had started to ignite and light their small area. Which prompted the witch to catch sight of the dozens of chandeliers before ceasing her ball of flames.

"I don't envy you, if my mate could do that my ass would've been burned the first week of meeting her."
"Jackson!" He made a face that clarified that he didn't mean it entirely, though his apology was interrupted once he caught the look of sheer panic in Remus face. Yet he wasn't the only one who was suffering through their discovery as another male had started to dry heaving. And Jack barely caught Dante as he tried to calm himself and his wolf.

The cells lingered on the better part of the walls, raging up to the lofted ceiling of the factory's carving walls. They were small and cramped, some were larger than others—But most resembled lockers stacked up on top of each other. 

And the worst of it all, the skeletons in Randal's closet had been found outright.

Remus had fallen to his knee in despair, no matter what he did there were still a million other things he forgot. These poor souls had been forgotten and starved in a cage—left to rot.

Randal's reign had come so abruptly that it didn't matter that it was over, not when there was no chance of escape. The Alpha closed his eyes and tugged at the bond he had with his family, but the blockage of the silver denied him that comfort.

"Remus...Remus. There's nothing you can do about it now." Aurora issued, a firm grip on his shoulder for support. But he growled in defense.

"I should've known." He said with a hoarse breath to follow and Jack instantly denied it.
"I should've known Jackson! We've been in debt for years and this...!" The male said by throwing his arms up into the air as he stepped up.

"This is where that went!... It only gets worse, it only ever gets worse!" The pain etched onto Remus' face was one of stress and hatred, one for his father and the rest for the situation they found themselves in.

"Sir...It's really over, this part. We'll look around and leave, we'll take the bodies and give them a proper funeral. They deserve that." Aurora said in a calming voice that left no room for argument, and thus, he nodded in agreement. And the order was set into place to secure a base perimeter.

Rebekah didn't hesitate to take pictures to review for later, this was a graveyard for sure—So the sound of former rogues or former Underground prisoners in the search party currently puking up their morning hunt in the corner was passable.

It reminded Remus of Blake's response to the underground truck's scent that caused him to vomit. But the Alpha would be lying if he said he didn't have to throw up either.

One of the first things he did to settle his aching heart was to open each and every damn cage door, knowing Sage would've done the same for clarity—He didn't know what silver did to a soul, but he doubted it allowed them to properly walk to the moon.

While Rebekah was in the midst of her own task, she smiled to see what the Alpha was doing. She had heard countless things from both the witch side of her family to the vampires that Enzo allowed her to converse with.

His maker for one. And each had their own take on the Alpha of Crescent Moon, but all she could see was a male trying to make amends to the debts his parents had made.

So when she was offered a preview of the picture she had just snapped, she smiled lightly before making her way over to him. "It's not your fault..." The witch offered, which caused Remus to stall his next locked cage.

"Now you sound like Sage." "
"Good, I love being compared to a beautiful mind. But we're right...It's like blaming Sage for not knowing Willow is her mother, there was no possible way for her to know." He turned to look at her, his slightly damped eyes only offered the effects of the silver in addition to his emotions.

"They were sitting here...Waiting for help that never came."
"And there are dozens of facilities who are doing the same, Remus. These could be criminals for all you know. It's—"
"Nobody deserves life in a cage." He bit back, and the female instantly nodded with a heavy breath escaping her.

"You're right, and I agree. But carrying this weight around will only pass through your children...And besides, I think you're doing right by them too." She gestures to the small screen of her camera, and dozens of small white orbs are shown. All surrounding him and the outside of the cages.

Causing Remus to crack a smile.

"D-did Enzo tell you how Raven was captured?" He shook his head lightly and turned to face her fully, and the witch licked her lips and tried to get through the painful experience—Something that Remus was familiar with entirely.

"I thought it was my fault, if I was stronger and more in tune with my powers then I could've stopped them. It was stupid and foolish and we shouldn't have been out. But they were a ghost story back then, a twisted tale...I thought I failed my baby sister, but Enzo spent so many nights telling me that it could've been worse. That we both could've been lost. But the truth is, Alpha, I didn't have Omen yet. There wasn't much I could do." The burning in her eyes caused her to squeeze them and look away.

"We're not at fault, and it took me a while to realize that—And a strong part of it is because of Enzo...If Sage doesn't blame you, why should you?" She offered him a platonic hand on his cheek before turning away, the witch was right.

Sage had been one of the biggest pawns in his father's game, and it was the chance of faith and the will of the goddess that brought her to freedom.

To him.

Remus finished his task and found little to nothing in terms of information, most of it had been silver ore disposits and manufacturing weapons. The long-time members could just barely recall the pack trying to test out weapons, but there hadn't been much of a use, though they too were added to Rebekah's endless bag to be analyzed later.

"I hate to keep asking the questions, but what do you propose is happening here?" Enzo questioned just as Remus came to stand beside him, the hooks at the top of the large cage left the theories up to the pure imagination—And the horrific leftovers of scratches here and there to the back stone caused Remus to forcefully regulate his breathing.

"Is wolf blood worth anything?" Remus asked the two oddities in the group and Rebekah shook her head. "No, well...It could be toxic, like rogues? It'd make either of us sick and probably kill me if they bit me enough." Rebekah answered honestly, but of course, the vampire couldn't control himself as he zipped over to her and engulfed her into his hold.

"Over my dead body."
"I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but I'm not getting a pulse." She teased, leaning up to give her adorable mate a kiss. However, the closeness allowed him to catch the scent of her salty tears. "Love...?" She smiled and shook her head, leaving him with one last kiss before she took to look at the other large cages.

"Alpha!" Jackson yelled, coming out from one of the many side doors that Aurora looked rather frazzled just the same. "What did you fin—"
"Randal was trying to train the rogues! It makes sense, look. If he was asking A for certain medications or whatever, the lab over there has hundred of bottles with dates and names. These were rogues, he must've been looking to build an army." Remus had to allow Jackson's ramble to settle in his mind for a moment, then another...Only to walk forward to the said lab and see that it was indeed one.

No wonder Crescent Moon was sinking and overflown with taxing the people. Goddess, this shit ruined them!

The numbers on the cages were clearly ingrained for each subject, and Remus made sure to get the names and such take—As well as a few of the bottled poisons as it'd be best for the witches to look at it.

And Rebekah agreed as well.

The time spent in hell was consuming, the answers were right there, Remus could feel it. But the lab gave no solid definition on what is what for which experiment, and it made him far too sick to understand how a person could do this—He wouldn't push that sort of treatment on a human.

However, the sickness in his stomach was draining him, and he was sure that everyone else would start feeling the strain much earlier than him. Yet it was the rogues and underground rescues that surprised him in how they were willing to plow through the feelings. And the theory of Randal trying to tame rogues was starting to build evidence to back it up.

Yet it was Rebekah's shout that caused him to instantly turn around. "I need water and a rage!" She yelled, and in thinking someone was injured—Aurora produced both items without much of a thought or question.

Rebekah doused the cloth in water before wiping down the wall to reveal a different type of claw mark. "Goddess, what the hell is that?" Jackson said, which only followed a hiss as he forgot that the cage was lined with silver.

"Could be someone's final words...Aurora, where did you find the rags? The cages could all have them." And to think what they experienced before, however, to be respectful they made sure that the thirteen remains had been wrapped up by careful hands and labeled the name that was filed away with their number.

Once they returned back to topside they'd give them proper resting place.

After dozens of pictures and doing all that could be done. The party returned back with bundles of wolves that could be former pack members, rogues, or war prisoners.

The two pack members'  who remained top side hadn't found much but did label a few more doors that need to be open by Remus' blood, yet that was for later.

This was much more important at the moment.

The process was long and delicate, but the ash was spread down the mountain and then moved off to the next person. And as Alpha, there was a certain ceremony that would give the family of the fallen wolf the time to express their words of wisdom to pass on later.

Reincarnation wasn't a widely spread concept among wolves, but the selected few wondered if in a past life they were mated with. If that was the case, he and Sage had been together previously.

That she lived a fuller life than this one, and for once, Remus liked to believe that was the case.

"...When we return to the pack, I hope to find if there is any relation to the pack. And if not, then I hope they find their peace. Goddess rest your souls." He said as the fire was soon left to die out, which prompted Remus to return back to his father's office.

Whatever feelings he had in taking over the office at the packhouse did have any comparison. The hospitality and death stunk up the entire room and reminded him that this building shouldn't have existed.

But how did it exist without anyone's knowledge?
This would've taken more than the normal amount of manpower not only operate but build as well. The neighborhood Sage had commissioned had all working hands and it still took about three weeks.

This factory was more than just silver mining, so he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. If there was anything he learned from Sage's teachings from the witches is that a clear mind would offer creativity clarity.

Yet the quick reminder of him not being a witch took over, right beside the portrait of his father basically laughing in his face for the mess he created.

"What a fucking joke, twelve years—Almost Thirteen. More than a decade and the shit I've gone through to make sure that Crescent Moon is at least likable and you can't even make it easy...Can you?!" Remus shouted up to the portrait, but it remained impassive.

It was a damn painting after all.

"Right, it's fine. It's fine! It's fucking fine! But what isn't is you dragging me straight through hell when you should've been a better father! You dragged mom into this and got her killed, we lost more than half our pack because they were too afraid to fucking stay on a graveyard. And this place?! What the hell were you doing?!" He strived over towards the frame and slammed it back into its place against the wall—cracking the side frame.

Of course, the sadist had the inside of the frame lined with a small strip of silver.

"WHAT IS THIS PLACE?!" His voice boomed, the room trembling at the octive as an Alpha's voice could bring anyone to their knees. But this was different, this was pure rage and anger—And he hadn't felt like that since he took the first proper breath as Alpha of Crescent Moon.

He took that anger and managed to redirect it when he tore away from each and every piece of wood in the punishment stage to make a fire. And it was Hayes who had to stop him, and even now the scars on his hands were from that faithful day.

Sage managed to take the pain away though, he'd catch her tracing the lines out with her small and delicate to ever be near a monster like him.

But he wasn't the monster, he was just the monster's heir.

______

Date: 03/18/2022

Time: 10:54

Words: 3291

 Author's Note:
The mystery continues, and the 'mines' were both informative and brought up new questions. 

What do you think Randal was up to?

Why did nobody in the pack know about the moutain's factory?

More importantly, is Remus responsible for his father's reign?

--

This is chapter 25 out of 38, might not seem like 13 chapters is a lot, but so much can happen in that amount of time. In addition, I am working on finishing and editing the last book as the fourth stories' release date might be a two month wait
Finishing this story: May 2nd, 2022
Wait time to next story: End of June 2022 (Hopefully)
(it has very heavy themes and I want to make sure I do it justice, also fix some plot points)

Luna of Crescent Moon is going to be placed as complete after the next few chapters are released. It's just meant to be a fun little side story of how I envisioned Hera and Remus meeting.
When the series is completed, I'll revisit it.

The mountain expedition has a few more chapters before the Phase is over. Then onto the next!

Alrighty, have a great weekend everyone!