Healed by the Alpha (Hunted Book Two)

Chapter Fifty One

Logan

It had been two days since my letter to the witches, I was starting to think that they would never reply. Maybe I'd annoyed them by taking my time and now that's exactly what they were doing in return?

Storm was slouched under the table in the library. I'd come here to try to make some more sense of the book. It seemed like there was something I was so obviously missing, but I couldn't find it. Word had spread from the Shadow pack and soon I was receiving calls about my alliance with them. Everyone wanted to know what my plan was once I had the alliance, I wish I could've told them something helpful or useful but in all honesty I had no idea myself.

I closed the book and shoved it away from me on the table. It was full of tales, but tales didn't tell us anything that would've been useful. Storm started to whine, his paws padding at the carpet. I leaned forward and stroked his fur, "what's up buddy?" Storm's eyes were locked on the stone fireplace in the middle of the room. "You want something?" I tried asking him again. This time he stood up on all fours as quick as the wind and started to growl.

I kicked back my chair and stood next to him, Storm wasn't like any other dog, he was smart. If he was worried about something it wasn't a good thing. His growling turned to barking as the fireplace started to shake. What the hell was going on? "Storm, I don't think we should be in here without anyone." I told him, trying to pull his collar towards the door. He was as still as a statue, barking at the splitting stone.

Splitting stone?

I crouched down next to him and threw my arms around him, if anything was going to happen, it wouldn't be my dog that got the brunt of it. All of a sudden the floor stopped vibrating, the loud noise of stone crumbling stopped and Storm's bark had silenced. I peeked up from where we were cuddled and the sight before my eyes made me question everything I had ever known about my family.

The fireplace that was fully stable and definitely not broken a few minutes ago, was now split into two. There was a jagged line running right down the centre of the stone and it had parted slightly to reveal a glowing light inside. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't absolutely terrified. Nothing had ever happened like this in the pack house before. Storm stretched out his paws and made his way over to the bit of debris on the ground. "You knew about this?" I asked him.

He looked back at me and towards the gap in the stone, "are you serious?" I asked him, already deciding not to follow the dog's instructions. He lifted his snout and looked back at the broken fireplace. "Absolutely not. I am not investigating. We'll go and find some people to try to fix it." I pulled on his collar but he wouldn't move. He was sniffing at the gap, his face inching closer until his nose was on the stone.

I sighed, my hand already rubbing my aching head. "If I die, it's on you." I told him sourly. He yapped happily and pawed at the broken wall, "if you're this happy about something it can't be bad right?" I was speaking more to myself than Storm, but it made me feel better to say all the same. I straightened my shoulders and placed my hands on the stone, it didn't feel as though it could be moved, but there was definitely a glowing light coming from inside.

I braced my legs and pushed at one side of the wall, it didn't budge. I tried kicking it, pulling it and even asking it to move. Still nothing. Storm was too busy sniffing inside the fire to notice my struggles. I was just about to tell him that there was nothing here when his paw moved over a stone and the fireplace started to move again. The pressure had seemed to unlock something that was keeping the fireplace closed and it unexpectedly opened up like sliding doors.

My mouth was wide open, the space under the fireplace was actually a hiding place for a set of circular stone stairs. This was way too 'horror film' for my liking. Why would the Midnight Moon pack have some kind of creepy dungeon? Surely if my father had known it was here he would have mentioned it at some point? There was a lot I didn't know about my father, was it really out of the question to assume he was keeping something like this from me too?

I placed my foot on the top step, testing the durability of it. There was dust covering every inch of the passageway. I peered down the middle of the spiral stairs and realised that the glowing light was actually lit torches all the way at the bottom. I could see the flickering light reflected by the shadows on the stone, I turned to Storm, "you sure you want to do this?" Without a second bark he was in and rushing down the dusty staircase.

I struggled to keep up with him as I cautiously tested every single step on the way down. I wasn't an idiot, I'd read plenty of stories and seen more action movies than I could count, I was well aware of booby traps in situations like this. The closer I got to the bottom, the more the nervousness in my gut tightened. I really should've brought someone else with me.

My feet scuffled as I reached the torches at the bottom. I couldn't see anything other than a long corridor matching the well preserved staircase. For a moment, I'd lost sight of Storm. He'd ran off before I could catch up, his light feet were never going to be an issue. I could hear his claws tapping on the cobbled floor, but the darkness made it difficult to see. I felt inside my pockets to find my phone, maybe I could use the torch on that?

I panicked as I realised I'd left my phone in my office. No one could reach me. It was the middle of the week and everyone was out. No one would even be in the pack house right now. I jumped as I heard barking up ahead, "Storm? Are you okay?" I shouted down the corridor. I didn't get a reply. I sucked up my courage, there was only one thing for it, I would have to take the torch and I would have to pray it didn't go out.