Chapter 97

Chapter 97
Trevor's POV

The Echo Chamber didn’t return to silence after the spirals faded. It settled into something worse, a quiet that felt like pressure under the skin, humming beneath the floor, waiting for the next strike. Waiting for the next revelation.

Evelyn stood close to me, one hand on her belly, the other gripping my forearm as though bracing herself against a world that had suddenly become too big. Too dangerous. Too full of expectation. Her breathing was steady, but I could feel the tremble beneath her calm. The twins were shifting again not painfully, not urgently, but alert, aware. As if listening.

Rowan moved beside us, scanning the reflective mist around the Chamber. “The Gate didn’t close,” he murmured. “We’re not done here.”

Jason scoffed quietly. “That’s obvious. The air feels like something is stalking us.”

He wasn’t wrong. Every instinct inside me stayed on edge, my Wolf pressing against my skin, restless and ready. Not out of fear. Out of refusal to let anything touch Evelyn, anything influence her, anything try to force a choice meant only for her.

I turned to her.

“Evelyn,” I murmured. “Talk to me. What are you feeling?”

She swallowed, her hand sliding protectively over her stomach. “It’s like… something is pushing forward inside me. Not physically. More like… awareness.”

“From the twins?”

She nodded. “I think they understand more than I do.”

I exhaled slowly, jaw tightening. “They’re not choosing anything without us.”

Her eyes flicked up to mine, wide and soft and strong all at the same time. “Trevor… what if one of them has already chosen?”

“No,” I said immediately. “That’s not how this goes.”

“But the spirals—”

“The spirals don’t get to dictate their fate,” I interrupted. “And neither does any ancient wolf spirit.”

She stared at me for a long moment, then let out a breath that trembled.

“You sound so sure.”

I reached out, sliding my fingers gently along her arm, a subtle, grounding touch that wouldn’t overwhelm her. “I don’t have all the answers,” I admitted. “But I know this: whatever path is chosen, it will be chosen with love. Not fear. Not prophecy. Not pressure.”

Rowan stepped forward, his voice low. “Alpha. Something else is happening.”

We all turned.

The mist in front of us began to swirl again, but not like before. Not forming a figure. Not forming a vision. It was pulling back, peeling away like curtains drawn open by invisible hands.

Revealing something massive.

A circular stone platform emerged from the mist, ancient symbols etched across its surface. Silver veins traced the carvings, glowing faintly. It pulsed like a heartbeat. A slow, steady rhythm.

Evelyn sucked in a breath. “That’s… familiar.”

I tightened my hold on her hand immediately. “How?”

“I’ve seen this,” she whispered. “In my dreams. In the visions the twins sent me.”

Her voice lowered. “This is the place where the choice is made.”

Jason muttered, “Oh fantastic. A fate-choosing altar. As if that’s not terrifying.”

Rowan shot him a glare but said nothing.

The stone platform pulsed again brighter, sharper.

Evelyn took a step forward before she realized it.

I caught her elbow. “Careful.”

“I’m okay,” she said softly. “I just feel… drawn.”

I moved in front of her, forcing the platform to face me first. “Drawn to what? The light? The symbols?”

She shook her head. “To the center.”

Of course it would be the center.

The heart of the choice.

A place meant for the mother.

The Chamber trembled faintly, the air rippling with the echo of something old awakening.

“The Gate brought you here,” Rowan murmured. “There’s no turning back.”

I glanced at him sharply. “We’re not blind sheep walking into a trap. We take this one step at a time.”

He nodded. “Agreed.”

The platform pulsed again, this time with a low hum that vibrated through the soles of my feet.

Evelyn’s breath hitched. “Trevor… the twins—”

Before she could finish, she winced and bent slightly, her hand flying to her stomach.

I was at her side instantly, one arm circling her waist. “Evelyn. Hey. Look at me. What is it?”

She inhaled sharply. “It’s not pain… it’s pressure. Stronger. Like they’re pushing toward something.”

Toward the platform.

A low growl rumbled in my throat. “Then they wait. They move when we decide. Not now.”

Her fingers clung to my arm, grounding herself. “I don’t think they’re trying to make a choice, Trevor. I think they’re responding to something coming.”

Something coming.

My blood went cold.

Rowan’s gaze snapped to the far end of the Chamber. “Do you feel that?”

Jason drew his blade. “Yeah. Something’s shifting the mist.”

The air thickened. The Chamber dimmed. A shadow rose in the distance slow, deliberate, heavy.

Evelyn stiffened. “Trevor…”

“I’ve got you.”

The shadow grew larger, forming a shape not a wolf, not the Echoed One, not any spirit we had seen before.

Something unfamiliar.
Something darker.
Something that pulsed with the same power as the dark spiral had.

Jason tensed. “That’s not friendly.”

Rowan stepped forward, voice steady. “Prepare yourselves.”

The shadow stepped into view.

And Evelyn gasped.

“Trevor… I’ve seen him.”

I froze.

“Where?”

“In the earlier visions,” she whispered, clutching my arm. “In the ruins. His voice… he was calling for me.”

My heart hammered. “What is he?”

She swallowed, voice trembling. “The one tied to the cycle. The one who can’t be healed.”

The shadow’s glowing eyes locked onto Evelyn.

And its voice echoed through the Chamber.

“The mother of the fractured moon arrives at last.”

I stepped fully in front of her.

“Touch her,” I said softly, “and you die.”

The figure paused, then laughed not loud, but deep, ancient, knowing.

“I am not here to harm her, Alpha,” it said. “I am here to witness the choice. And to claim what is mine.”

Rowan hissed. “Claim what?”

The shadow’s gaze fell to Evelyn’s stomach.

“The child of ruin.”

Evelyn sucked in a sharp breath.

My entire world snapped.

“No,” I snarled. “You don’t touch her. You don’t touch our children.”

The shadow tilted its head. “You cannot deny destiny.”

“Watch me.”

The Chamber trembled violently.

Evelyn gasped again but this time in pain.

I caught her instantly. “Evelyn—?”

She clenched her teeth, gripping my shirt. “Trevor… something’s wrong.”

“What do you feel?”

She inhaled, breath shaking. “Pressure. Strong. Deeper. It’s—”

Her voice broke.

Rowan stepped closer. “Is she—?”

“No,” I growled. “She’s not in labor.”

But Evelyn’s next breath told me the truth.

“Trevor…” she whispered, eyes wide, panicked. “I think… something is starting.”

My blood turned to ice.

I wrapped both arms around her, supporting her weight.

“It’s okay,” I murmured, though nothing was okay. “I’m right here. Breathe.”

The Chamber shook again.

The shadow stepped closer.

Rowan moved between us and it. “Stay back!”

Evelyn’s next gasp confirmed the nightmare.

“Trevor… I think… it’s labor.”

And the Chamber responded...

Light exploding from the platform, the Gate roaring awake, the ground splitting in pulsing veins—