Chapter 5: The Hollow
530 Words
The den was buried deep beneath a collapsed church — long abandoned, forgotten by the humans who once worshipped there. The bones of saints were replaced with fur, blood, and sharpened instincts.
Luca followed the others down the narrow stone tunnel, the earth cold against his bare feet. Torches flickered along the walls, casting strange shadows that twisted like spirits.
“Welcome to Hollow Creek,” Raine said beside him, her voice low. “The only place left where wolves like us can exist without being hunted every full moon.”
He expected something primitive — dirt floors, maybe piles of straw. Instead, he found something… ancient. And beautiful.
Carved stone, lit with fire. A long table where wolves—some human, some shifted—sat eating meat off wooden platters. Furs lined the floor. Swords and axes rested against the walls, next to books, photos, and relics from another time.
But it wasn’t safety he felt.
It was tension.
A tall girl at the table looked up, sneered. “That him? The stray?”
Raine stiffened. “He saved my life.”
“Doesn’t mean he belongs here,” the girl muttered, eyes narrowing at Luca. “Or that we can trust him.”
Luca felt heat rising in his chest. Not anger. Something more dangerous. The wolf inside bristled.
“I didn’t ask to be here,” he said coldly.
Silas entered then, dragging a broken hunter’s rifle in one hand. “Enough,” he snapped. “We don’t eat our own.”
He dropped the rifle with a clang. “But they’re coming. More hunters. Armed with tech we’ve never seen. Someone’s feeding them intel.”
The room went silent.
Luca noticed Raine glance to the side—at a dark tunnel near the back of the den. She didn’t say anything, but her body tensed.
“What is it?” he whispered.
She shook her head. “Not here.”
Later that night, while the others drank and sharpened weapons, Raine led him down the tunnel. They passed murals of wolves in battle—some victorious, some burning.
“What aren’t they telling me?” Luca asked.
She stopped.
“There’s a traitor in the pack,” she said. “And I think they’re connected to your turning.”
Luca’s stomach turned.
“You think I was… planned?”
“I think you were chosen,” she whispered. “Not by the moon. By someone with a plan. Someone dangerous.”
He stepped closer. “Why didn’t you say anything before?”
“Because I didn’t know if I could trust you,” Raine said.
Her voice cracked. Her mask slipped for a second—revealing fear. Not of him. Of what he might become.
Luca didn’t hesitate. He reached out, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek.
“You can now.”
She closed her eyes. Leaned into his hand.
For the first time, Raine looked vulnerable. Breakable.
But the moment shattered when a howl rang out from above.
Short. Sharp.
A warning.
“They’ve found us,” Silas roared from the main hall.
Luca looked at Raine.
This time, she didn’t pull away.
- Writer
