Chapter 134
The sound of raised voices met Francesco before he even stepped into the outer hall.
What the….
Kiera stood with her hands on her hips, chin lifted defiantly, while Beta Alfonso’s expression had settled into the patient–but–strained look of a man holding back his temper.
Francesco slowed, one brow arching in mild wonder.
What is it now?” he asked, his tone carrying more weariness than curiosity.
Beside him, Marlow leaned against the wall, looking utterly bored. “The woman insists on joining us
says she knows the city better than any of us.”
Francesco’s gaze slid past Marlow to the young woman arguing with his Beta. Recognition sparked. “She’s the one we rescued, right?”
Marlow gave a lazy nod. “Alpha Gregory’s daughter.”
“Ah…” That was all Francesco needed to hear. His voice dropped into the sharp command tone that brooked no debate. “Call her father now. We have no time for this.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned on his heel and strode toward the gathered warriors, quickly briefing them on Lira’s findings and the possibility of Luca’s lingering magic.
The cave was now more than a suspicion – it was a threat that had to be addressed before the sickness claimed more lives.
It wasn’t long before the heavy tread of boots announced Alpha Gregory’s arrival.
The older Alpha’s face was thunderous, and the moment he saw his daughter, his voice rose in a heated clash that echoed through the corridor.
Kiera met her father’s anger with defiance, but Francesco didn’t linger to watch the outcome. As the two argued, Gregory turned sharply and bowed toward Francesco, the tension in his shoulders betraying his embarrassment.
Francesco simply inclined his head in acknowledgment and continued past.
Behind him, Beta Alfonso remained, his role clear – keep the home front steady while Francesco was gone, as he had always done.
With his warriors ready, the charm from Ellaine secure against his chest, and the mission set, Francesco stepped out into the cold night air.
The path to the cave awaited – and with it, the answer to whether Luca’s shadow truly lingered in his lands.
The cold night air knifed through the fortress courtyard, sharp and biting, carrying the scent of frost and steel.
Francesco strode forward without hesitation, the moon’s pale glow glinting off his eyes as his body shifted with fluid, bone–deep instinct.
Bones stretched.
Muscles surged.
Fur erupted in a dark cascade along his skin until the man was gone, replaced by the towering shadow of his Lycan form–midnight–black, broad as a fortress wall, every movement radiating power.
Behind him, the chosen warriors followed his lead, their own bodies rippling and contorting as their wolves emerged–hulking, battle–scarred creatures bred for war. Yet even the largest among them looked small beside their king..
A low growl rumbled from Francesco’s chest, so deep it seemed to vibrate in the marrow of their bones.
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08:56 Sat, 9 Aug
Chapter 134
Move.
They obeyed instantly, surging forward.
This was no horseback ride. This was the hunt.
Paws struck the frozen earth in unison, sending up sprays of dirt and frost. Wind roared past their ears, carrying the mingled scents of pine sap, damp stone, and the faintest trace of old blood. The fortress walls and sleeping city fell away behind them, swallowed by the vast, untamed dark of the wilds
Every heartbeat brought them closer to the place that reeked of danger.
When the acrid tang of stale blood and damp rock grew stronger, Francesco slowed, his enormous frame blending into the treeline like a shadow born of the forest itself.
They halted at the edge of a narrow, overgrown trail, its mouth half–hidden beneath brambles.
Marlow’s wolf padded forward, ears pricked, eyes glinting in the gloom. This way.
The pack moved in silence. The forest seemed to hush around them, the air growing heavier, thicker, as though the night itself pressed down upon their
backs.
Then, it appeared – the mouth of the cave. A jagged wound in the earth, yawning wide and black.
Francesco shifted partway back, retaining his towering height, a blend of man and beast that exuded both intelligence and primal menace. Against the
– a quiet heartbeat of protection, her love woven into its core. dark fur at his chest, the charm Ellaine had given him hung warm to the touch
Two wolves broke away, circling the perimeter. When they returned, their ears were flat, eyes hard. No movement. No heartbeats. Nothing alive near the
entrance.
And yet…
Francesco could taste something in the air. Metallic. Rotten. And beneath it – the faint hum of old magic.
They shifted back to human form in unison, their breath clouding in the cold as they prepared to speak.
“This is it,” Francesco murmured. His voice echoed against the stone, too loud in the stillness.
Torches flared to life, but their flames trembled as if resisting the darkness. The moment they stepped inside, the temperature plummeted. Damp walls seemed to drink in the light, shadows clinging to the stone like living things.
Scorch marks marred the walls in jagged, unnatural patterns – not from fire, but from spells long spent.
Marlow crouched, running his fingers over strange grooves in the floor. “Something heavy was dragged through here… not long ago.”
Francesco joined him, eyes narrowing. The marks weren’t claws. They weren’t tools. This was something other.
They moved deeper. Each step was muffled, as though the cave swallowed sound. The shadows shifted along the walls, rippling like ink in water.
The tunnel opened into a wide chamber littered with shattered bones and scraps of scorched cloth. At its far end, a blackened circle pulsed faintly on the ground–the ghost of a dying spell.
Francesco’s jaw tightened. Luca was dead. And yet this reeked of him.
If this magic lingered, then someone still carried the knowledge to use it.
And that someone was still out there.
—
A sound broke the silence – faint, deliberate.
08:56 Sat, 9 Aug
Chapter 134
Francesco’s head snapped up. The growl that left him
And there he was.
Marsen.
was
pure warning as he stalked toward the darkest corner, his warriors fanning out behind him.
But something was wrong.
He sat slumped in the shadows, his body gaunt, his movemenatural. Hie something else, something ancient and foul.
My cent was wrong.
His eyes lifted, glowing red in the torchlight, staring at them like he
No one moved closer. Instinct screamed at them to keep their distance.
Because in Marsen’s hands, bound in chains of dark smoke, was
Luca’s book.
The book of dark magic.
And that meant only one thing – Marsen had been trying to use it.
book Francesco knew all too well.
no trace of wolf, no trace of man. Only a void… and
AD
