Chapter 22 Twenty two
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Sara’s POV
The room stayed quiet after Kael’s declaration, but not a comfortable quiet. It felt like everyone was waiting for something to break. Maybe it already had.
I sat back down on the stone bench. My pulse was steady, but my mind wasn’t. A title. A memory I supposedly carried. A secret my mother had died protecting.
Xenon did not look away from me once. His expression had none of the usual control he carried. It was tense, sharp, and burdened with calculations he wasn’t sharing.
“We are done here,” he finally said. “Sara needs rest and a secure place until we understand how this affects her.”
Ryker nodded and left to clear the corridors. Kael stayed, watching me with a thoughtful expression that made me uneasy.
Xenon turned toward him. “You can observe. But you do not pressure her. Not today.”
Kael gave a slight nod. “Understood.”
Xenon extended a hand to me. “Stand. We are leaving this wing.”
I took his hand. The moment I stood, my knees wobbled. Xenon steadied me without even thinking about it. His hand slid to the side of my waist, firm but careful.
“Tell me if you feel anything unusual,” he said. “Even the slightest shift.”
“I will.”
He didn’t let go as we walked through the hallway. Kael followed several steps behind, silent and alert.
We turned toward a part of the pack house I hadn’t seen yet. The corridors here were older, the stone darker, the walls wider. It felt like a place built for strategy and defense, not everyday use. The lanterns cast straight lines on the ground. No shadows. No corners to hide.
Xenon pushed open a heavy door at the end of the hall.
Inside was a room I didn’t expect.
Large windows covered one side of the wall, overlooking the inner courtyard. The room was sparsely furnished: a long table, two chairs, a reinforced door on the opposite side, and a narrow cot against the wall.
“This room was built for interrogations,” Kael said from behind. “No sound leaves. No scent escapes. Nothing gets in.”
Xenon ignored him. “You will stay here until I know the corridors are clear.”
I frowned. “You mean stay alone.”
“No,” he said. “I am staying with you.”
Kael raised an eyebrow. “Alpha, that is not standard protocol.”
“It is not a standard enemy,” Xenon replied. “And she is not waiting alone.”
Kael didn’t argue again.
Xenon guided me to the cot. I sat down slowly. The room felt still, almost too still, as if the walls held secrets from decades ago.
Kael stepped closer. “We have an opportunity. Your mind is open right now. If we handle this correctly, we can try to guide the next memory rather than let it hit at random.”
Xenon’s hand tightened on the back of my shoulder. “Absolutely not.”
Kael sighed. “It will help her understand her title.”
“Not now,” Xenon said. “She just collapsed. She needs stability before anything else.”
“I am capable of making my own decisions,” I said quietly.
Xenon looked down at me quickly, his expression shifting. “I know. I am not trying to control you.”
Kael stepped forward. “You are trying to shield her from information that could protect her.”
Xenon glared at him. “She is overwhelmed. She does not need your theories right now.”
I took a breath. “I want answers.”
Xenon’s jaw tightened. “Sara.”
“I want to know what is happening inside me,” I said. “If the Creed is after something I carry, then I need to understand it.”
Kael gave a small nod as if he expected that. “Then we attempt something simple. Not a full memory. Just a touchpoint.”
Xenon looked frustrated but didn’t stop me.
Kael pulled a chair across from me and sat. “Focus on the pendant fragment. Not on touching it. Just on the thought of it.”
Xenon stepped to my side. “If this becomes too much, we stop immediately.”
I nodded.
Kael continued. “Think of the pendant. Think of where it came from. Think of the moment you first saw it.”
I breathed deeply and closed my eyes.
No pressure.
No heat.
Just focus.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then something quiet stirred.
Not a vision. Not a flash. A tug. A pull like someone touching a thin string inside me.
Kael’s voice came low. “Stay with it. Do not force it.”
I followed the pull.
A faint image lined the edge of my mind. A woman’s hand. The same hand from my memory. She was placing the pendant into something. A small box. A stone box.
The image shifted.
I saw the valley again. Not the entire forest. Just a glimpse of stone towers rising from the ground. A path.
Then everything tightened.
Something pushed against my mind from the inside. Not violent. Not painful. But enough to make my breath catch.
Xenon stepped closer. “Sara. Open your eyes.”
I couldn’t. The pull was stronger now.
Kael’s voice was sharp. “This is a natural memory. Do not fight it.”
The pressure increased. A name whispered again. Quiet. Familiar. Mine.
I opened my eyes abruptly.
Xenon crouched directly in front of me, hands on either side of my face. “Breathe.”
I gasped, grounding myself.
Kael leaned back. “What did you see.”
I swallowed. “A stone box. In the valley. The pendant was placed inside it.”
Kael nodded. “Good. That confirms it.”
Xenon looked between us. “What does it confirm.”
“That her mother hid something with the pendant,” Kael said. “And that the other half is a key. Not a message.”
Xenon didn’t like the answer. His fingers curled against my jaw for one short second before he let go.
Kael continued, “The next step is to take her to the valley of stones.”
“No,” Xenon said immediately.
“It is necessary,” Kael replied.
“Necessary for you,” Xenon said. “She is not ready.”
“I am the one who decides that,” I said.
Xenon turned to me. His expression softened, but his voice stayed firm. “You do not have to face this place yet.”
I nodded slowly. “I know. But I also know we do not have time.”
He stared at me, trying to read whether I was thinking clearly or acting on panic. When he realized I wasn’t panicking at all, only determined, something in his posture changed slightly.
Kael stood. “If we reach the valley before the Creed, we have a chance to find whatever her mother hid.”
Ryker entered then, breath slightly uneven. “Alpha. The patrol found more tracks near the northern barrier.”
Xenon’s stare hardened. “How close.”
“Too close,” Ryker said. “If they keep moving at this pace, they will reach the valley before dawn.”
A cold certainty settled inside me.
“They are already heading for the valley,” I said.
Kael nodded. “Yes.”
I looked up at Xenon.
His eyes held frustration, fear, anger—impossible to separate. “Sara.”
“I need to go there,” I said quietly. “We cannot wait for them to take whatever my mother hid.”
For several long seconds, Xenon didn’t respond.
Then he spoke, his voice steady but full of things he didn’t say aloud.
“I go with you.”
Kael nodded. “We all do.”
Ryker stepped forward. “I will gather the warriors.”
Xenon turned toward him. “Only a small team. We move quietly. No open confrontation unless necessary.”
Ryker left.
Xenon then turned back to me.
“Get ready,” he said. “We leave in fifteen minutes.”
I stood.
The last thing he said before we exited the room sat heavy in the air.
“No matter what we find in that valley, nothing takes you from me.”