Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 560

Chapter 560

A second one appeared behind the first. Then a third, coming around from the right. They converged slowly toward the center of the ruins. Toward me.

The first one took another step closer.

I started moving then, slow and steady despite my heart pounding wildly in my chest. I kept low and kept to the shadow of the wall, covering the distance to the gap slowly, watching the wolf’s head in my peripheral vision.

It turned away, which was my chance. I moved faster, darting over to the gap, and slipped inside. The rock scraped against me, and I had to shimmy my pack off to fit, holding it out to the side, but I finally managed.

I had nearly made it when I dropped my pack in the gap. Cursing under my breath, I reached out as far as I could, fingers brushing the straps.

The wolf heard my grunt. A snarl rumbled in its throat, low and predatory. It made a sound to the other wolves, and they began to approach.

“Come on… Come on…” I fumbled for my bag. The wolves converged ever closer, snarling, hackles raised.

Finally, I snatched my bag and yanked it in. But the gap was still open. I fumbled in the dark, searching for some kind of door, and finally came across a large, flat, rectangular stone leaning against the wall.

I pushed it. The stone ground forward, and forward, and then the line of dim light narrowed and narrowed and disappeared as it sealed shut. The howl that followed was very close. I could hear the wolves scratching at the gap, but they couldn’t get in.

For a long moment, I stood in the complete darkness, panting, and listened to them on the other side. They scratched at the stone and whined and yipped for some time, but slowly, over the course of several minutes, the sounds faded.

I let out a long breath and turned around, flicking my flashlight back on.

The passage was narrow and went straight for about ten feet before angling downward into nothingness. Cautiously, I inched forward, shining my light deeper. The path dipped down, but there was more of a path.

I pressed my hand to my chest and exhaled with relief. Okay. So I wasn’t trapped in a mere crawlspace with angry, feral wolves roaming outside.

The tunnel went far deeper than I expected, maintaining its height and width as if it had been intentionally carved. Eventually, I came across three branches. The first came early, a narrow gap in the right wall that I would have had to turn sideways to fit through.

I went left instead, following my gut instinct. I could always turn back if I needed to.

The second branch came shortly after, but it just opened into a small chamber with some old pots and what looked like petrified food stores. No luck. I went back out to the main passage and kept going.

Finally, I came across the third branch. This one was larger, with cobwebs hanging in the space. There was a symbol carved over the arch. Another nine–pointed star.

This had to be it.

I stood there for a moment, hesitating, then took a deep breath and went in

I must have walked in a straight line for ten minutes. The air grew colder and darker, the only sound that of my footsteps and my breath in the air. Whenever I shined my light in front of me, white puffs came out of my mouth.

The chamber at the end of the passage wasn’t large. It was roughly circular, the ceiling low enough that I had to bend slightly in the center. The walls were covered in carvings depicting various scenes. People dancing around fires. Someone with horns and wings.

Chapter 560

+30 Bonus

I shuddered and set my pack down.

In the center of the floor was a shallow depression, perfectly circular, maybe a foot or less across. The stone inside it was different from the rest; it was pitch black, and when I crouched and rubbed my fingers across it, they came across dark and smelling of soot.

Fire?

I went back to my pack and opened the box, took out the folded spell on Karl’s transcribed sheet, and smoothed it against my knee. I read through it once, carefully, the way I had a dozen times on the journey up here.

“Place the offering on the stone… Light it… Speak the words three times without halting, without mistake.”

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