Page 4 of Wild Fated

Chapter

Three

Lana

Ipushed open the door and stepped into dank stillness. The air smelled stale, like it had been trapped in a cellar for years. Strange since Kael had met with the northern alphas within the last few weeks.

My wolf stood at attention, her muscles coiled.I don’t like this.

Yeah. Me, either.

Kael's tension was palpable, his eyes scanning the shadows that crept along the walls. He sensed it, too. The wrongness, the feeling that we were walking into something we weren't prepared for. We ventured deeper into the building, our footsteps echoing in the silence. It pressed in around us, suffocating. I gripped the dagger tighter. I didn’t know if it should be used as a weapon, but I felt safer with it in my hands.

We moved silently through the dim hallways, the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. Kael kept close to Callista, hisgaze sharp and vigilant as he positioned himself just slightly in front of her.

We paused at the edge of the next corridor, Kael lifting his hand to signal us to stop. His nostrils flared. I crouched beside him as he scanned the hall ahead, his fingers brushing the wall. His wolf pressed so close to the surface, my wolf felt a little left out.

Callista rested a hand briefly on his back. Kael tilted his head toward her. “Something doesn’t feel right. There should be movement. Guards. I don’t like this.”

Neither did I. The building was too quiet, too easy. No scents lingered. Kael, of all people, understood that magic since he had unexplainable abilities, but from the look on his face, he wasn’t aware anyone else was capable of it besides him.

“Did they mask their scents?” I asked.

Kael shook his head. “I’m not sure. But I don’t know how else they would’ve done it.”

“Or why.” Callista clenched her jaw as we crept forward.

When we reached the next corner, Kael signaled us to stop again, his eyes narrowing as he tilted his head, listening.

Nothing.

No sounds of guards patrolling, no movement beyond the walls. Just silence.

Satisfied—though not at ease—Kael motioned for us to continue. Callista stayed close to his side, the two of them moving in sync. His hand brushed hers briefly as if she needed the reassurance.

We turned the corner and stepped into a large room. Bookshelves lined the walls. Maps were spread over tables. I pressed against the wall, waiting for an alarm to sound or for wolves to spring from the walls.

But there was nothing. No guards. No alphas. Just us.

“We need to get out,” Kael growled.

Not yet. My wolf willed me toward the maps, and I stalked forward obediently.

Callista tensed. “Lana, there’s something wrong?—”

“I’m aware,” I snapped. But I wasn’t going to give up this opportunity to see what the alphas had been researching.

“Why would they have left this out?” Kael looked like his wolf was going to tear out of him.

“It doesn’t matter. I need to see?—”

“If it was important, they would’ve taken it with them.”

“Maybe they didn’t have a choice.” My brain spun with possibilities. Had something or someone threatened the alphas? Had they left when they realized Kael wasn’t coming back?

I tore through the papers scattered across the desk, my fingers flipping through old notebooks and useless ledgers. What were they keeping track of, their grocery purchases?On paper?

There had to be something here about the relics, something we could use. Most of the books on the desk were about the old legends: the rise and fall of the Shadow Pack, the prophecies about the relics returning, and the supposed power locked inside each one. It was mind-boggling that in the course of a week, this information had become old hat.

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