THE HIDDEN CHAMBER

THE HIDDEN CHAMBER
GARRICK'S POV

Okay. I’ll be honest. I don’t like being away from other wolves for long. But there’s something about this place, this ruin Nadira was so obsessed with, the place that she had chosen as her last stand.

Why?

She was winded, gravely beaten and she texted here.

Why here?

That question keeps poking at the back of my mind. Like an itch under the skin. Something isn’t right. And I need to figure out what it is.

The air here’s weird. Still, but not quiet. There’s this low hum, barely noticeable unless you’re really tuned in. And maybe it’s nothing. Maybe I’m just tired. But something tells me I’m not.

Not after the crap I have seen

I crouch beside what looks like the shattered foundation of some old structure. The rocks are too clean, the carvings too deliberate to just be random damage. I run my fingers along the cracks, feeling for any kind of mechanism. There has to be something.

And then, there is.

A shift. A click.

The floor groans, and suddenly a piece of the ground sinks inward. I jerk back, heart kicking up as dust swirls up from the sudden hole that opens in the ground. A stairway. In a cave.

Of course there is.

I exhale, standing at the top of it for a second. Old stone steps wind down into darkness. It smells like the past. Cold. Stale. Still holding onto secrets it has no business keeping.

"Alright," I mutter to myself, cracking my knuckles. "Let’s see what you didn’t want us to find."

The stairs go down farther than I expect. When I finally reach the bottom, the walls widen into a chamber. And not a small one. It’s... huge. The kind of huge that makes you feel small just standing in it.

There are carvings everywhere. Along the walls, across the stone floor. Ancient ones. Deeply etched. Symbols I don't recognize, but there's one thing I do understand: this was important.

In the center of the room, a circle. And inside that circle, an altar. On it, several scrolls, brittle with age. I don’t touch them just yet. I circle the chamber first.

There’s a huge mural on the far wall. A beast. Tall as the ceiling, drawn with thick lines that make it look like it’s moving even when it's still. Its eyes are glowing, not literally, obviously, but the artist made it look like they were. And the color...

It’s the same golden hue Ayla’s eyes turn when she taps into that weird power of hers. That kind of gold that almost burns.

What the hell is that?

I step closer. The beast isn't attacking anyone in the mural. It isn't chained, either. It stands at the center, surrounded by wolves bowing their heads. Some of the wolves are drawn smaller, like normal. But there are three that are big—like the beast. All of them have glowing marks. One on the forehead. One on the chest. One on the palm.

My gaze flicks back to the altar.

So... Nadira wasn’t just trying to control the pack.

She was trying to open something.

Or someone.

I finally approach the altar and look over the scrolls. Most of them are cracked, the ink faded. But I can make out enough to know one thing:

There was a seal. An ancient one. Not just magic. Something older than that. Older than any pack I know. Nadira was obsessed with breaking it. And maybe she thought Ayla was the key.

Which... makes me wonder.

Is Ayla part of whatever that thing is? Is her power meant for it? Against it? Or worse...

Is she what was sealed?

I don't have answers. Just more questions. But I can feel the hairs on my neck rising.

I pocket one of the less fragile scrolls, snap a few pics with my phone of the mural, then make my way out. I don’t run. But I want to.

By the time I get back to the pack, the place feels different. Lighter. Not like before. Ayla's standing outside, arms folded, talking to a few wolves who immediately scatter when they see me coming. Figures.

She turns to me, eyes sharp.

"You’re back. Took you long enough."

I smirk. "Had to crawl through a hole in the ground. You know how it is."

She raises a brow. "You find something?"

I nod slowly, then glance around. "Where’s Thane?"

Her expression shifts, just for a second, then steadies. "He won. The trials. All three."

I exhale. Not surprised. But relieved. "And the other two?"

She looks away. "One’s dead. The other failed."

"Harsh," I mutter.

"That’s how it works," she says, shrugging like it doesn’t still sting her even as she stares at me intently.

"What?"

"You’re hiding something," she says simply.

My lips twitch. "Am I now?"

"Yeah. I can feel it. It’s buzzing off you. Like static."

I blink. That’s... not normal. Not even for someone like her.

"Alright then. You win. Come on."

I lead her toward the cabin where I’ve been staying. Quiet. Out of sight. I dig through my bag until I pull out the scroll and the printouts of the mural.

She takes one look at them and freezes.

"What... is that?"

"What I found down in that ruin. Nadira wasn’t just trying to control you guys. She was trying to break a seal. This thing? Whatever it is? It was locked away for a reason."

She stares at the glowing-eyed beast.

"That light..."

"Yeah. I noticed," I say, watching her face. "Same one you give off when you go full power mode."

She swallows.

"So what does that mean?"

I shake my head. "I don’t know yet. But Nadira was obsessed with it. And I think she thought you were part of it."

She doesn’t say anything for a while. Just keeps looking at the drawing. Then she reaches out and traces a fingertip over the golden lines.

"I’ve seen this before," she whispers.

I blink. "What?"

"In my dreams. When I was a kid. Before everything. I always thought it was just... something my mind made up."

I sit down slowly, watching her.

"Ayla, you might be more than just some girl Nadira wanted to control. You might be the damn key to something ancient. Something big."

She doesn’t flinch. But I can see it in her eyes. The fear. The doubt. The wheels turning.

"We tell Thane," she says quietly.

I nod.

Be
cause whatever this is... we’re not getting out of it by pretending it doesn’t exist.

And something tells me, this was just the beginning.