<b>Chapter </b><b>151 </b><ol><li></li></ol>


    The morning felt different once Francesco, Beta Luc, and Marlow left toward the forest.


    ? <b>71</b>%


    Their silhouettes vanished into the mist that clung to the horizon, and the courtyard of the manor seemed emptier without them.


    A faint chill lingered in the air, the kind of cold that didn’t belong to the weather but <i>to </i>something unseen.


    28


    1 inhaled slowly, forcing my heartbeat to steady. Audrey stood close beside me, arms folded, her sharp eyes scanning the few elders. who passed us with polite nods. She looked utterly at ease, but I knew her well enough by now to sense the tension underneath. Her hand lingered near the knife strapped to her thigh, a habit she had when unease slithered <i>into </i>her instincts.


    “So…” Audrey finally broke the silence, her voice pitched low. “Do you realize how strange this is?”


    I turned to her, blinking. “Strange?”


    “Yeah,” she said dryly, tilting her chin toward the manor. “No young women. No children. A pack this big and only elders wandering around like ghosts. Doesn’t that scream wrong to you?”


    I swallowed. “It does. But… Henri–the Alpha–looked as if even he didn’t know how it happened.”


    “That’s exactly what bothers me.” Audrey’s lips thinned. “Alphas don’t just lose track of their pack. They can sense when something’s wrong. They know when bonds break, when members die. But he looked… blind.”


    She’s right…


    Her words left a shiver across my skin. I thought back to the Alpha’s face, his sorrow, the way his shoulders bent as though the weight of invisible chains pressed him down.


    Could grief really cloud a leader’s senses sopletely?


    Or was something darker at y?


    I hugged my arms. “We should talk to more of them. The elders. Maybe they’ve noticed something the Alpha hasn’t.”


    Audrey smirked faintly. “Now you’re thinking like a Luna.”


    I rolled my eyes but smiled weakly.


    Together we began to walk deeper <i>into </i>the settlement.


    The houses here were old but tidy, timber and stone pressed together with care. Curtains fluttered in windows, but every pair of eyes that peeked out seemed to dart away as soon as they noticed us.


    The first elder we approached was a hunched woman carrying a basket of herbs. Her face was deeply lined, and her hands trembled slightly as she tried to shuffle past us.


    “Excuse me,” I said softly, stepping in her path. “May I ask you something?”


    The woman froze, her cloudy eyes lifting to mine. For a long moment, she just stared–then her lips trembled. “You are the Luna,” she whispered. Not a question. A statement.


    Heat flushed my cheeks. “I… yes. I am Luna Eine.”


    <b>1/4 </b>


    17:46 Mon, 25 Aug


    The woman’s gaze flickered to Audrey, then back to me. “You shouldn’t be here.”


    What?


    My stomach tightened. “Why not?”


    Her fingers clenched tighter around the basket. “The forest takes what it wants. It does not care for kings or queens.“–


    Audrey shifted, voice sharp. “What does that mean?”


    But the woman shook her head violently, almost dropping her basket. “I cannot say. I cannot. The Goddess forgive me.” Then, without another word, she hurried down the path, vanishing into the mist.


    I stood frozen. “Audrey…”


    What is going on here?


    “Yeah.” Audrey exhaled slowly. “Creepy as hell.”


    We pressed on, asking more questions where we could.


    A stooped man repairing a fence muttered that his granddaughter had vanished on her way to gather berries. A pair of sisters whispered that they woke one morning to find their mother gone, her scent leading toward the woods and then… nothing. No trail. No blood. Just absence.


    Every story ended the same.


    The forest.


    Theke.


    Disappearance.


    Silence.


    It was like the vige had been hollowed out piece by piece, and no one could exin how.


    After the third or fourth conversation, Audrey rubbed her temples. “This doesn’t make sense. No bodies, no screams, no attacks? Just gone? That doesn’t happen.”


    I nodded mutely, my chest tightening with unease.


    Something about their words itched at the edge of my mind, as though Mika, my wolf, strained to warn me of a danger just out of


    reach.


    We reached the far edge of the settlement where thend began to dip toward the tree line.


    The forest loomed there–tall, silent, watching. A trail wound into the shadows, narrow and worn, like many feet had walked it.


    My stomach twisted the moment Iid eyes <b>on </b>it.


    A group of elders sat gathered near the entrance, their expressions tight as they murmured to one another.


    One of them–a wiry man with silver hair–noticed us and stiffened.


    17:47 Mon, 25 Aug


    “Don’t go that way,” he rasped when we approached. His gaze darted to the trees as if afraid they might hear him.


    “Why not?” I asked gently.


    His lips pressed thin, then parted with a whisper. “Theke.”


    What? Lake?


    I felt Audrey stiffen beside me. “What about it?”


    The man’s face creased with fear. “Those who pass it do not return the same. If they return at all.”


    “Do you mean rogues? A threat?” Audrey demanded.


    .71%


    But the elder only shook his head. “No wolves. No ws. No blood. Just… theke. It waits. It takes.” His eyes glistened with unshed tears. “My wife, my daughter, my grandchildren–all gone. All gone after passing it.”


    My throat tightened. “Why hasn’t your Alpha-”


    “He does not remember,” the man interrupted, voice sharp. “None of them do. Those of us left… we carry the memories alone. And


    the burden.”


    My blood turned cold.


    He doesn’t remember?


    How could an Alpha forget his own missing pack?


    Unless something–or someone–was clouding his mind.


    I nced at Audrey, and the same unease mirrored in her eyes.


    “Luna,” she whispered tightly, “Alpha Francesco and Marlow went that way. With Beta Luc.”


    The realization mmed into me.


    Oh God!


    They were walking straight toward the forest.


    Straight toward theke.


    My chest constricted with panic. <i>“</i>We have to warn them.”


    Audrey didn’t hesitate. She grabbed my wrist, and together we turned, sprinting down the path toward the trees. The mist thickened as we ran, swallowing the world behind us.


    But as we reached the shadow of the forest, I nced back onest time.


    The elders were watching us. Not with fear. Not with pleading.


    But with something else.


    Recognition…


    17:47 Mon, 25 Aug


    As if they had been waiting for this moment. As if they had seen it all before.


    And they knew what waited for us at theke.


    ?? ??,71%2