Chapter 152
Chapter 152
Shit!
The moment Audrey and I caught that fleeting expression in the villagers‘ eyes–the shift from fear to something far deeper, a shadowed recognition they turned their faces away as if nothing had happened.
But the damage was already done.
The truth was there, lingering unspoken, pressing against my chest like a weight.
“Audrey,” I whispered, tightening my grip on her arm, “did you see that?”
Her jaw tightened. “Yes. They know something. More than they’re saying. And they’re terrified to even let it slip.”
I swallowed hard, unease coiling in my stomach. “It’s connected to the lake. I’m sure of it.”
The moment I said it aloud, the air itself seemed to shift, colder, heavier, as if the forest that surrounded the manor had leaned in to listen. A chill wind. snaked past us, tugging at my hair and stirring the branches above like a warning.
Audrey glanced toward the tree line in the distance, her gaze sharp, assessing. “That’s where they went. Francesco. Marlow. Beta Luc. Straight toward the woods. Toward the lake.”
Oh no… My heart stuttered.
A cold dread settled in my chest, and before I even realized it, my feet were already moving. “We have to go. Now.”
Audrey didn’t hesitate. “Stay close to me, Luna.”
We broke into a run.
The cobblestones of the village gave way to dirt paths, then to the soft crunch of pine needles beneath our boots as we plunged into the forest. deeper we went, the more suffocating it felt. The trees grew denser, their shadows stretching long and twisted, until it seemed as if the forest itself was trying to keep us from moving forward.
The silence was wrong.
Too wrong.
No birds, no rustle of small animals–just the sound of our breathing and the pounding of my heart.
“Why would they hide it?” I gasped, trying to keep pace with Audrey’s swift stride. “Why wouldn’t they tell their Alpha?”
“Because sometimes,” Audrey said grimly, “the truth is worse than silence?”
Her words sent a shiver through me.
My lungs burned, but I pushed harder, the thought of Francesco pulling me forward.
I couldn’t explain it, but every step closer to the lake made my skin prickle with unease, as though the very air resisted us.
Then we began to hear it.
A sound, faint at first, like the ripple of water disturbed by something heavy.
It grew louder with every step, not the soft lapping of waves against a shore, but a thick, sluggish churn.
Something unnatural.
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Chapter 152
We crested a small rise, and there it was the lake.
Av
It stretched before us, vast and dark, shrouded by a low mist that clung to the water’s surface like a living thing
The trees around it leaned inward unnaturally, their twisted roots clawing toward the water as though pulled by an unseen forts.
And the smell–goddess, the smell. Not rot, not death, but something metallic, sharp, like blood diluted in endless water.
I staggered to a stop, chest heaving, eyes wide. “What is this place?”
Audrey’s face was pale, her eyes scanning the shore. “It isn’t natural. That much I know.”
We both froze at the same moment.
On the far side of the lake, barely visible through the mist, I caught the outline of figures–Francesco, tall and commanding, Marlow close at his side, and Beta Luc pointing toward the water as if explaining something.
My heart lurched.
Relief warred with terror.
“They’re too close,” Audrey hissed. “Too close to whatever this is.”
As if in answer, the lake shifted.
The surface rippled outward, though there was no wind, no stone thrown to disturb it.
A slow, circular pattern spread across the water, and for the briefest moment, I thought I saw shapes beneath the surface–distorted, elongated, too many limbs to belong to anything natural.
I grabbed Audrey’s arm, panic clawing through me. “They don’t see it. They don’t see what’s happening!”
Audrey’s lips pressed into a hard line. “Then we make them see.”
Damn it!
We ran.
Branches clawed at our arms, roots caught our boots, but we tore through the forest edge toward the clearing by the lake, driven by desperation.
My lungs screamed, but I didn’t care. Francesco was there. And something in my very bones told me he was in danger.
“FRANCESCO!” I tried to shout, but the word tore out of me like a strangled cry, swallowed by the heavy mist.
He didn’t turn, didn’t even flinch.
None of them did.
It was as though the lake itself muted me.
“Why can’t they hear us?” My voice cracked in panjc.
Audrey shook her head, fury flashing in her eyes. “I don’t know. But we keep moving. Don’t stop.”
We broke into the clearing, the earth damp and spongy beneath our boots. Closer now, the mist swirled around us, and the water seemed to pulse—yes, pulse–as though it was alive.
And that’s when i saw it.
Chapter 152
Faces.
Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds. Flickering in the mist above the lake, pale and translucent, like echoes of the living. Women dres be qui mouths open in silent screams.
Oh God…. The missing.
My knees nearly buckled. “Oh Goddess…”
Audrey grabbed my hand, her grip iron. “Don’t look too long. It’ll swallow you whole.”
I tore my eyes away, heart hammering, bile rising in my throat. But even as I forced myself forward, I knew the truth. The lake wasn’t just water, it was a grave. A prison. Something older, darker, and hungrier than anything I’d ever known.
And Francesco was standing right at its edge.
“Faster!” Audrey urged, and we sprinted, the pounding of my heart a drumbeat of terror.
The mist thickened around us, and I could feel it now–something watching, something waiting just beneath the surface.
A whisper brushed against my mind, low and insidious, a voice that wasn’t mine. ‘Come closer. Join them. The water waits!
I shook my head violently, gasping. “Do you hear that?”
Audrey’s face was grim, her eyes blazing. “Ignore it. It’s trying to pull you in.”
But still the whispers clung, beckoning, promising relief, peace, if only I stepped into the water.
I focused on one thing, one anchor. Francesco. His dark eyes, his steady strength. I had to reach him. We had to reach him–before the lake claims
too.
We were so close now, the distance shrinking with every desperate step.
Francesco turned slightly, as if sensing something, but the mist swirled thicker, hiding us from view.
I opened my mouth, desperate to scream his name again-
And then, from the lake, something moved.
A shadow surged beneath the water, massive, formless, but heavy enough to make the surface bulge. The ripples spread outward with violent force, spraying cold droplets against my skin.
Audrey cursed, pulling me harder. “We’re running out of time!”
And still, the villagers‘ words echoed in my mind.
The women are gone. The children too. Taken.
Taken where?
The answer stared back at me in that cursed water
The lake.
The lake had them.
And as I stumbled forward, heart in my throat, I knew the truth: if we didn’t reach Francesco now, it would take him too.
The lake the still, black mirror of water surrounded by forest shadows–was no ordinary place. It pulsed with something wrong, something hungry,
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Chapter 152
Every instinct in my wolf screamed at me to run away, to keep to the trees, but my heart gave me no choice,
I have to do something of my Francesco will be in danger.
So, I turned on my heel, ignoring Audrey’s sharp intake of breath behind me, and walked straight toward the water.
“Luna?…Ellaine..!” Audrey’s voice cracked like a whip, her boots pounding the soil. Panic laced her tone, hard and desperate. “Don’t you dare
But it was too late.
My steps quickened, and before her hand could snatch mine, I threw myself forward.
The shock of icy water consumed me, swallowing my breath, dragging me into its suffocating embrace.
The world went dark.
For one heartbeat, I thought I had made the gravest mistake of my life.
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