Chapter 224 Chapter 224
Chapter 224 Chapter 224
Sebastian
Nobody moved.
The footsteps echoed again, slow and deliberate, scraping against ancient stone somewhere beneath us. They weren’t running. Whoever—or whatever—was down there wasn’t in a hurry.
That bothered me more than if they had been charging up the stairs.
Confident people rarely rushed.
The warriors standing closest to the entrance instinctively shifted into defensive positions, their hands dropping to the weapons at their sides. I heard the quiet scrape of steel leaving leather, followed by the low growl of one wolf struggling to keep his animal under control.
Fear had a scent.
It spread through a pack faster than words ever could.
Ellie took a small step closer until her shoulder brushed mine. She didn’t even seem to realize she’d done it. Through the bond, I felt the rapid beat of her heart, the uncertainty she was trying so hard to hide, and beneath all of that…
Curiosity.
That surprised me.
She was frightened, but there was something else pulling at her.
Something that had been growing stronger ever since we arrived.
I glanced down at the pendant resting against her chest. Even from where I stood, I could see it shimmering faintly beneath the gray morning light.
“It’s warmer,” she whispered.
Theo immediately turned toward her.
“Still?”
She nodded, wrapping her fingers around the silver.
“It almost feels like…”
She frowned, searching for the right words.
“…like it’s reacting to something.”
Rowan’s expression darkened.
“I was afraid of that.”
Blake looked from Ellie to the tunnel.
“You keep saying things like that without explaining yourself.”
“I know.”
“Maybe stop doing that.”
Under any other circumstances, I might have smiled.
Instead, I watched the darkness below.
The footsteps had stopped.
That wasn’t better.
Silence in a place that should have echoed with movement made every instinct inside me sharpen.
“Nobody goes down there,” Theo said firmly.
One of the patrol wolves looked relieved.
Another looked disappointed.
Typical.
Young warriors always wanted to prove themselves.
Sometimes they forgot that courage and recklessness weren’t the same thing.
“We seal it back up?” Blake asked.
Before Rowan could answer, Ellie quietly said, “No.”
Every head turned toward her.
She looked almost embarrassed by the attention.
“I don’t know why I said that.”
She stared down the staircase.
“I just…”
Her hand tightened around the pendant.
“It doesn’t want us to close it.”
A cold chill worked its way down my spine.
“What doesn’t?” Marcus asked gently.
Ellie shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
She laughed nervously.
“I know how crazy that sounds.”
“It doesn’t.”
Rowan’s answer came so quickly that even I looked at him.
He was staring at Ellie with an intensity I’d only seen a handful of times before.
“When the Moon Goddess chooses someone…”
He spoke carefully, as though weighing every word.
“…there are moments when instinct speaks before understanding catches up.”
Ellie swallowed.
“So I’m not imagining this?”
“No.”
“Then what am I feeling?”
Rowan looked toward the darkness below.
“I think…”
He hesitated.
“…something is calling to you.”
The words settled over us like a heavy blanket.
Blake immediately shook his head.
“I don’t like that sentence.”
“I wasn’t asking if you liked it.”
“I’m just letting everyone know.”
Theo folded his arms.
“We’re not letting Ellie walk into an ancient tunnel because she feels something.”
“I wasn’t suggesting we should.”
“Good.”
“But we also can’t ignore what’s happening.”
Marcus stepped forward until he stood beside Rowan.
“The patrol said they only checked the entrance.”
The young warrior nodded.
“Yes, Beta.”
“You didn’t actually go inside.”
“No.”
“Did you hear anything besides footsteps?”
The warrior frowned.
“There was…”
He stopped.
“What?”
“I thought someone whispered.”
My wolf stirred.
“What did they say?”
“I couldn’t understand it.”
His voice had grown quieter.
“It sounded…”
He looked toward Ellie.
“…like another language.”
Ellie flinched.
“I’ve heard it before.”
Theo’s head snapped toward her.
“When?”
“In my dreams.”
The rain continued falling around us, but nobody seemed to notice anymore.
Ellie stared at the staircase as though the answer had been waiting there all along.
“The woman.”
“What woman?” Blake asked softly.
“The one I kept dreaming about.”
She closed her eyes.
“I never understood what she was saying.”
Her breathing became uneven.
“But every time she spoke…”
She looked back at us.
“…it sounded like that.”
Nobody spoke.
Because every one of us remembered those dreams.
At the time, we’d thought they were visions.
Warnings.
Now…
They felt more like memories.
“I think we need to leave.”
Marcus’s voice broke through the silence.
I looked at him.
“Until we know what’s down there.”
Theo nodded.
“I agree.”
For once, Blake didn’t argue.
Even he seemed uneasy.
“Let’s get everyone back to the house.”
The patrol wolves immediately began moving, relieved to have clear orders.
I turned toward Ellie.
She hadn’t moved.
She was still staring into the darkness.
“Ellie.”
No response.
She wasn’t ignoring me.
She genuinely hadn’t heard me.
I stepped in front of her.
“Ellie.”
She blinked hard, finally focusing on my face.
“I’m sorry.”
“What happened?”
“I…”
Confusion clouded her expression.
“I thought someone said my name.”
Every muscle in my body went rigid.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
She glanced back toward the tunnel.
“It sounded…”
Her voice barely rose above a whisper.
“…like my mother.”
Marcus inhaled sharply.
Theo’s face drained of color.
Blake immediately reached for Ellie’s hand.
“Your mom isn’t down there.”
“I know.”
She nodded quickly.
“I know that.”
But I could still feel it through the bond.
She wasn’t convinced.
As we started back toward the Alpha house, I deliberately fell into step beside her, keeping close enough that our shoulders brushed.
The others formed around us without needing to discuss it.
Theo walked ahead, already planning.
Blake stayed at Ellie’s other side, filling the silence with quiet conversation about anything except ancient tunnels.
Marcus and Rowan followed just behind us.
It looked casual.
Natural.
It wasn’t.
Without saying a word, we’d formed a protective circle around Ellie.
No one would reach her without going through all of us first.
I glanced back one last time.
The entrance stood exactly where we’d left it.
Dark.
Silent.
Empty.
Then, just before the trees blocked my view completely, I saw movement.
A figure stood at the top of the staircase.
Not stepping outside.
Not chasing us.
Simply watching.
Too far away to make out a face.
Too still to be mistaken for one of the patrol wolves.
When I stopped walking, Theo immediately noticed.
“What is it?”
I kept my eyes fixed on the meeting hall.
“I don’t think we were alone.”
Everyone turned.
By the time they looked…
The figure was gone.
Only the open doorway remained, disappearing into darkness as though it had never held anyone at all.
But I knew what I’d seen.
And somehow…
The most unsettling part wasn’t that someone had been watching us.
It was that whoever stood in that doorway had made no attempt to hide once they realized I’d seen them.
Almost as if…
They wanted us to know they were there.