The Blood They Buried

The Warning

Then every light in the building went out.

For a moment, I couldn't see anything.

I couldn't even see my own hands.

The darkness was complete.

Then the wolves began to howl.

Not one.

Not two.

Dozens.

The sound rose from outside the room and spread through the entire territory, wild and terrified.

I pressed my back against the wall.

“What is happening?”

No one answered.

“Damon?”

“Stay where you are.”

His voice came from somewhere in front of me.

Calm.

Controlled.

But I heard something underneath it.

Tension.

I swallowed.

The emergency lights flickered on, bathing the room in a faint red glow.

Damon stood beside the table.

His attention was fixed on the photograph.

I looked down.

It was still on the floor.

The strange message was still there.

THEIR DAUGHTER MUST NEVER BE ALLOWED TO AWAKEN.

My throat tightened.

“Their daughter.”

I looked at Damon.

“Who does that mean?”

He didn't answer.

I stepped closer to the photograph.

“Who are these people?”

Damon picked it up.

“I don't know.”

“But you showed it to me.”

“Because I found it among my family's records.”

“Why?”

“I don't know.”

I stared at him.

“You're the Alpha. This is your family's house. You should know.”

His jaw tightened.

“I said I don't know.”

A loud crash suddenly came from somewhere below us.

I jumped.

Damon immediately turned toward the door.

Another crash followed.

The wolves outside went silent.

That was worse.

“What's down there?” I whispered.

Damon didn't take his eyes from the hallway.

“Stay here.”

He started walking.

I followed.

He stopped.

“I said stay here.”

“And I said I want answers.”

“This isn't the time.”

“When is it going to be the time?”

He turned to face me.

“The moment I know what we're dealing with.”

I looked down at the photograph in his hand.

“You're scared too.”

His expression became unreadable.

“I'm cautious.”

“You're scared.”

“There's a difference.”

Another sound came from downstairs.

A slow scrape against stone.

Damon immediately drew his weapon.

“Get behind me.”

This time, I listened.

We moved into the hallway.

The entire house had become unnaturally quiet.

No voices.

No footsteps.

Only the faint sound of something moving below us.

I hugged my arms around myself.

Then I heard it.

A heartbeat.

My head snapped toward the wall.

“Wait.”

Damon stopped.

“What?”

“Listen.”

He frowned.

“I don't hear anything.”

“There.”

I pointed toward the wall beside us.

“There's someone behind it.”

Damon stared at the wall.

“There isn't.”

“Yes, there is.”

“How do you know?”

I hesitated.

“I can hear their heartbeat.”

His eyes narrowed.

He walked toward the wall and pressed his palm against the stone.

Nothing happened.

Then—

Knock.

We both froze.

A second knock followed.

Knock.

My stomach twisted.

Damon stepped in front of me.

“Who is there?”

Silence.

Then another knock.

Three times.

Slowly.

I looked at the photograph in his hand.

The message beneath the picture suddenly made sense in the worst possible way.

The people in that photograph had been hiding something.

Something connected to me.

“Damon…”

He looked at me.

“I think that message was talking about me.”

His expression hardened.

“You don't know that.”

“Who else could it mean?”

Before he could answer, the wall cracked.

A thin line appeared across the stone.

Dust fell to the floor.

Damon raised his weapon.

“Back up.”

I stepped backward.

The crack widened.

Then stopped.

Nothing happened.

Damon stared at it.

“Stay here.”

He reached for the crack.

The moment his fingers touched the stone, the entire wall shook.

A gust of freezing air burst through the room.

I gasped.

Something inside me reacted.

My chest tightened.

My vision blurred.

And suddenly I wasn't standing in the hallway anymore.

I was somewhere else.

A dark room.

A woman screaming.

A baby crying.

Someone whispering—

“Hide her.”

Then another voice.

“She's already awake.”

My eyes flew open.

I was back in the hallway.

Damon was staring at me.

“What did you see?”

I couldn't speak.

“Elara.”

I looked at the photograph.

The faces seemed different now.

Not changed.

Just clearer.

The woman.

I stared at her eyes.

Silver.

The same strange silver I'd seen in my dream.

My fingers began to tremble.

“I know her.”

Damon's expression changed.

“Who?”

“I don't know.”

The wall suddenly cracked again.

This time, a piece of stone fell away.

Behind it was a narrow passage.

Damon stepped toward the opening.

I grabbed his arm.

“Don't.”

He looked down at my hand.

“Why?”

I pointed into the darkness.

“I can hear something.”

“What?”

My heartbeat became painfully loud.

“A child.”

Damon went completely still.

Then we heard it.

A faint sound coming from somewhere deep inside the passage.

A soft, frightened cry.

Damon looked at me.

Then at the darkness.

Neither of us moved.

The cry came again.

And this time, it was followed by a whisper.

My whisper.

“Elara… come find me.”

My blood ran cold.

Because I had never heard that voice before.

But whatever was inside that hidden room…

knew exactly who I was.