Beyond the Pack’s Law: My stepsister or nobody else

Aiden’s POV

As we walked through the hidden door, darkness enveloped us immediately. My heart raced in my chest, the sound echoing off of everything, but I would have sworn it was silent. Her hand in the dark beside mine was a lifeline as we crept slower, and each footstep reverberated dreadfully through that narrowing hall.

I glanced at her, whispering, “Stay near. Her own eyes were sharp and blazing with the same fire that I felt. We had to succeed. Too much depended on it.

The passage then gave way to a dimly lit corridor whose walls were covered in runes that appeared centuries old and aglow with an unnatural light. It sent a shiver up my back. The place was a bag of secrets and full of history.

Do you think Marcus knows? Her voice was barely above a whisper as Hayley asked.

“Maybe,” I replied, and I looked along the walls. It means he’s really been plotting all along, if it happens.

We continued on, and the air became slightly colder. The corridor wound left and right before we came to stop at a large timber door. Hayley and I looked at each other. This was it.

“Ready?” I forced myself out, my voice incredibly stable for the amount of adrenalin that filled me.

All I got was a single nod, with determination overriding every feature on her face. “Let’s do this.”

The two of us opened the door together and stepped into a massive chamber. The ceiling rose high above our heads, and the three were torches in sconces set into the walls that flickered shadows on each of those stone-lined features. And on the opposite side of the room, with their heads high and faces somber, displayed our pack elders.

“Eldar,” I started, words reverberating through the great space.

And up came Elder Samuel, the leader of us all. His eyes were sharp and shone in the light of twilight. “How many of us wanted to be you, Aiden? Hayley.”

Hayley and I looked at each other in amazement. “You knew we were coming?” Hayley asked him, a bit skeptical.

Samuel just nodded with no expression at all. Mr. Hooper said, “We had known for a while that Marcus was on the move. His aspirations are not a secret.

“So why has nothing happened? Richard, I snapped, getting a little frustrated. ” THIS CULT IS AS DANGEROUS TO YOU AS ANYONE.

Elder Miriam, who was like the old soul when she spoke up, It is a cult intertwined deeply with our history. Revealing it recklessly might well shred our pack to tatters.

“What do you mean?” Hayley demanded that her interest be bankrupt.

Samuel looked down into the bottomless well of years. Our forefathers, ages ago, formed a pact with the mighty. This “cult,” as you called it, was about safety and power. However, the longer they were around, their power grew darker, more subtle, and more sinister.

The room went cold, and my whole body felt it. ‘Cause now Marcus wants that power for himself, I realized.

“Exactly,” Samuel said. He tries to control the pack too, through fear and manipulation.

Hayley stepped to the fore, her voice steely. “We can’t let that happen. We have to stop Marcus and break the cult’s power once and for all.

The old guys traded glances, an unspoken conversation going on between them. At last, Miriam said it softly but sternly. “We will help you. But you must be cautious. There is not a place in the cult where they do not have eyes and ears.

Yes, I said to myself, flames of resolve igniting in my stern. “What do we need to do?”

Samuel indicated a huge map on the wall. In two nights, there’s a gathering, and Marcus will be there.

This is your opportunity to call him out and expose him.

Hayley and I leaned over the map. Glowing talismans clinked to form a path in an uninhabited part of the forest, safely hidden away from prying eyes as well.

“Ready,” Hayley promised, her eyes burning.

When we turned to go, Miriam called after us. “Be careful, both of you. The future is dangerous.”

We nodded to each other and left the room with a shared sense of purpose. The stakes were as high, if not higher, than they had ever been before; the future of our pack was at stake.

Walking through the passage again, I teemed with resolve. Together, we would take whatever was around the corner.

“Can we make it? And Hayley asked, doubtless, hoping and still uncertain.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I took her hand in mind as I held it tentatively. “I know we can. We have to.”

I beheld the moon hanging low as we emerged from that channel of mystery, illuminating every object on which it shone and relinquishing my shadow for yards behind me. We stood at the edge of a dark Arizona road emboldened by youth, adrift and eager to meet whatever path we traveled with eyes open.

Urgency quickened our steps as we walked back to the pack. We had two nights to get ready, gather everyone who supported us, and then kill Marcus.

As we made our way through the night-dark forest, I sensed that everything was about to change. The elders’ confessions had merely cracked open a door to an erstwhile realm that truth was in the process of revealing.

The fate of our pack relied on us; we could not pimp turns. We would be fighting that storm and winning, or perishing in the attempt. We did not know what lay ahead, but our determination was resolute.

And so Hayley and I walked into the night, hand in hand, poised to fight for what we loved.

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Hayley’s POV

He spun around, his eyes growing large at the sight of a door. A secret passage, he said, his voice full of realization. It had to end somewhere outside of the pack territory.

I felt a surge of hope. Perhaps even where Marcus was and how far his treachery reached. Though that fear was still very much there, We had to be careful.

We have to check it out. I commented with determination. Maybe this is the only opportunity.

Aiden gave a solemn nod. “Be careful. We do not know what is on the other side.

Careful steps, forward paces toward the door in my heart… Beating out of fear… the entrance to our hell… This was it. The moment of truth. When we stood in front of the door, I felt strange things. Hope, fear, and determination. Never had so much been at stake, and the fate of our pack was on the line.

I stretched a shaky hand out to the dagger and got a grip on it. I took a deep breath, and I pushed the door open to control events.

Aiden,” I responded, the strength lacing through my voice. “Let’s go.”

What I did know was that when we walked through the door and darkness surrounded us, this was only the start. It was not the last we heard of Marcus, though, and what happens next will change everything.