Chapter 47 The Dead Zone

Chapter 47 The Dead Zone
The air changed the moment they crossed the line into the middle of the mountain. It didn't smell like dirt anymore. It smelled like electricity and old flowers. This was the Dead Zone. For a normal person, it would feel like nothing. But for the werewolves, it felt like walking through thick mud. It was hard to move.

Kieran was having the hardest time. Without his wolf power, his body felt like a heavy rock.

His muscles were tired, and he was sweating even though it was cold. His lungs hurt every time he took a breath. But he did not stop. He walked right behind Lila. He kept his eyes on her purple glow. He was a king who refused to quit, even though he was just a man now.

"The humming noise is gone," Mara said. She rubbed her ears.

She was right. The SOC trucks outside could not send their noise this deep into the mountain. The younger wolves started to look better. Their heads stopped hurting. But even though the wolves felt better, the cave felt more dangerous.

The walls were not brown stone anymore.

They were covered in a thin layer of white ice that did not melt. Small, glowing mushrooms grew in the cracks. They gave off a purple light that matched Lila’s eyes.

"We are close to the source," Selena said quietly. She looked at her compass, but the needle was just spinning in circles. "The rules of the world don't work here. Stay on the path.

If you step into the dark, the mountain might grab you and never let go."

Lila stopped suddenly. She tilted her head like she was listening to a song. The purple light around her skin pulsed like a heartbeat.
"Lila? What is it? Do you hear the soldiers?" Kieran asked.

He reached out to touch her, but his hand stopped. He was shaking. He was still sad because he couldn't "feel" her in his head anymore. Usually, he knew exactly how she felt. Now, he was like a stranger trying to read a book in a language he didn't know.

"The mountain is talking, Kieran," she whispered. Her voice sounded like it was coming from far away. "It’s showing me memories. I can see the people who lived here a hundred years ago. I see the first Thorne woman. She was so lonely. She stood right here and cried because the world was too loud."

Lila turned to him. For a second, her face looked old and very sad. "She loved a wolf, too. But the mountain took him. It turned him into a tree so she would stay here forever."
Kieran felt a cold chill. "I’m not a tree, Lila. I’m right here. I’m human, and I’m tired, but I’m real. Look at me."

He grabbed her hand. Her skin was burning hot. It felt like a thousand bees were stinging him. For a tiny second, a small spark of gold appeared in the back of Kieran's mind. It was a tiny piece of their old bond trying to come back.

Lila? Can you hear me? he thought. He put all his heart into that tiny gold thread.

But the purple light in Lila’s eyes flashed bright and angry. The spark was crushed. Lila screamed in pain and pulled her hand away.

"Don't!" she sobbed, holding her head. "It hurts, Kieran! Every time you try to find the bond, it feels like a hot needle in my brain.

The power... it wants to protect me from you."

Kieran’s face fell. His heart felt broken. The one thing he had left the hope that they were still connected was gone. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I won't try again."

They walked in silence after that. The only sound was their boots on the stone. Finally, the tunnel opened into a giant cave. It was so big that Lila’s light could not see the ceiling. In the middle of the cave was a round pool of black water. It was perfectly still, like a black mirror.

This was the Deep Well.

"This is it," Selena said, falling to her knees.

"This is where the Thorne power started. That water is pure energy."

Around the pool, tall, white trees grew out of the rock. They looked like they were made of white marble. As the pack walked in, the trees began to shake. Their leaves made a sound like breaking glass.

"Who is here?" a voice shouted. It echoed off the walls.

The voice did not come from the trees. A man stepped out of the shadows. He was an old man, but he looked like he was made of wood. His skin looked like tree bark, and his hair was like white moss. His eyes were the same glowing purple as Lila’s.

"A Thorne has come home," the old man said.

His voice sounded like rocks grinding together. He looked at Lila with a creepy smile. Then he looked at Kieran and made a face like he smelled something gross. "And she brought a dog with her. Why did you bring this weak, broken thing to this holy place?"
The Pack Reacts
The insult made everyone freeze.

Ronan reacted first. His eyes turned bright gold. He stepped forward and grabbed his sword. He made a low, angry growling sound in his throat. Even if Kieran was human, Ronan was still his brother and his Beta. He was ready to kill the old man for being disrespectful to the Alpha.

Beside him, Mara stepped forward. She looked very angry. Her claws started to come out. She looked like she wanted to jump across the water and tear the old man apart.

But behind them, the younger warriors looked scared. They looked at Kieran’s shaking hands. Then they looked at the old man’s magic. They started to whisper to each other.

To them, the old man was right their Alpha looked weak and powerless.

Kieran ignored his pack. He stepped in front of Lila to protect her. "I am the Alpha of the Shadow Moon," Kieran said. His voice was deep and steady. "And she is my wife. You will respect her."

The old man laughed so loud the cave shook. "Alpha? You are just a man. You have no wolf. You have no power. You are just a bug living off her light while the humans drill holes in our ceiling."

"He is my husband!" Lila shouted. Her purple power exploded outward. The black water in the well began to move and glow.

The old man stopped laughing. He looked at the water, then back at Lila. "If he is your husband, let the Well decide. If your bond is dead, the water will stay black and he will drown. But if there is a tiny spark left if he is a real King the water will show the way."
He pointed a finger at the black water. "Step forward, 'Alpha.' Show us if you are a king... or just a dead body waiting to be buried."

Kieran looks at the deep, black water. He knows he is weak. He knows he has no magic. But if he doesn't take the test, the pack will stop following him, and Lila will be lost forever. As he walks to the edge of the water,
a loud ROAR comes from above. The SOC drills have broken through the ceiling!