BloodMoon: Captivated by the Forbidden Lycan Alpha
Chapter 85: SNEAKED IN AND OUT

Chapter 85: SNEAKED IN AND OUT

the enemy and make your presence unknown."}

Dante and I slipped away from the Kayne home under the cover of darkness, our movements swift and silent as we made our way toward Blood Stone Mountain. The air was thick with an eerie stillness, the weight of what lay ahead pressing heavily on my chest.

At the base of the mountain, I shifted my appearance, taking on the guise of a guard stationed nearby. My armor fit snugly, the scent of sweat and metal clinging to it as if it had been worn for days without rest. Dante, cloaked in invisibility, moved beside me, his presence only noticeable by the faint disturbance in the air.

"Follow my lead," he whispered.

I nodded, adjusting my stance to mimic the disciplined yet weary demeanor of a soldier. As we approached the other guards, I nodded in greeting, keeping my voice steady. "I was sent deeper into the nest," I said casually.

One of the guards glanced at me, then shrugged. "Good luck. It’s a nightmare down there."

He wasn’t wrong.

As Dante led me deeper into the mountain, my stomach twisted in horror. The cavern walls pulsed with an unnatural red glow; the scent of blood thick in the air. Rows of vampire young men stood motionless, their eyes vacant and unseeing. Blood Stone Bugs wriggled and burrowed into their necks, controlling them like puppets. The sheer number of them sent a chill down my spine.

My fists clenched, fury burning through me like wildfire. How could anyone be so cruel? So monstrous?

Dante’s firm grip on my shoulder pulled me back from the edge of rage. "Not now," he murmured.

Swallowing my anger, I followed him as we navigated deeper into the mountain. The further we went, the heavier the air became, filled with the whisper of something ancient and malevolent. Finally, we arrived at the nest—a massive chamber carved into the rock. Strange markings covered the walls, glowing faintly under the dim torchlight.

The entrance was unguarded, which sent warning bells through my mind. Nothing about this place felt right.

Dante leaned in; his voice barely audible. "A guard brings gold into the nest. We wait for him."

I nodded and took position by the door, standing tall, hands resting on the hilt of my sword. My heartbeat steadied as I forced myself into the role of a watchful sentry.

Moments later, two guards approached, their eyes narrowing as they sized me up. One of them smirked, crossing his arms.

"New, huh?" he mused, amusement lacing his tone.

The other chuckled darkly. "Hope you’re ready for hell." I met their gazes without flinching, masking the storm raging inside me.

"I’m not ready for hell," I joked, forcing an easy grin.

The guards laughed, their tension easing as they learned in a conspiratorial. "Everyone hates being assigned to the nest," one of them muttered. "That old geezer woman inside is crazy—paranoid as hell. Even Lord Marcel avoids her when he can."

The other guard snorted. "Yeah, none of us want to be posted here. It’s a nightmare."

I feigned a grimace, letting my shoulders sag. "Damn. I was hoping for an easy shift at the base of the mountain."

They all nodded in sympathy. "Can’t blame you," one said. "But trust me, it gets worse. Have you seen the transformation chambers yet?"

I shook my head, playing my part.

The guard’s expression darkened. "That’s where they throw any guard who disobeys Cassius. The Blood Stone Bugs get implanted into them, and after that, well... they’re not themselves anymore."

A shudder ran down my spine, but I masked it with a nervous laugh. "Yeah, no thanks. I just want to do my job, keep my head down, and get back to the foot of the mountain."

They patted my shoulder approvingly. "Smart man. Lucky for you, today’s a good day. No coven members are on the mountain, which means no one’s barking orders or watching over our shoulders. We get to enjoy the peace."

I nodded, forcing an easy smirk as we chatted a little longer. Eventually, the guards moved on, leaving me alone once more.

Dante’s voice was a whisper against my ear. "We wait a little longer. I hate it, but we have no choice."

I clenched my jaw and nodded, settling into my stance. Every second felt agonizingly slow, my senses on high alert. The air was thick with unease, and my beast, Kayne, stirred restlessly within me.

Two hours crawled by before the guard carrying the golden chest finally arrived. He was a burly man, his armor stained with old blood. His sharp eyes scanned me, lingering for a moment before he smirked.

"I can smell a new guard a mile away," he chuckled.

I dipped my head, feigning curiosity. "Why is only one guard needed at the nest?"

His chuckle deepened into something almost sinister. "You’ll find out soon enough."

Without another word, he pulled a heavy iron key from his belt and unlocked the steel doors. As they creaked open, a foul stench of blood and decay wafted out, thick enough to make my stomach churn.

He beckoned me forward. "Come on."

I hesitated just enough to sell my nervousness, then stepped inside.

The deeper we moved into the nest, the worse the air became. Blood clung to the walls, a dark, sticky substance that seemed almost alive. The ground beneath my boots squelched unnaturally, and a faint skittering noise echoed around us.

Kayne surged within me, his presence clawing at my insides. Anxiety tightened around my chest, every instinct screaming at me that this place was wrong.

And then, from the depths of the chamber, a voice rasped through the darkness.

"You’re late."

The voice rippled through me, sending a shiver down my spine. A scent followed—thick, pungent, and entirely unnatural. It was a twisted mixture of a Rogourau, a vampire beast, and something else, something even darker.

I hitched a breath, my body locking up as another scent rose beneath the vile stench. Pa’s blood.

I froze.

Kayne, my beast, surged within me, snarling, clawing, demanding to take over. I forced my hands into fists, grounding myself as the guard carrying the gold glanced back. He took my hesitation as fear and smirked, continuing toward the center of the nest.

My eyes trailed him, widening slightly as I took in the monstrous structure hanging from the cave’s ceiling—a massive, pulsating nest, twice the size of the one I had seen in Bay Shifter at the beaches of Sagstone Mountain.

This one was different. It crawled with Blood Stone Bugs, their tiny bodies wriggling and hatching, their newly-formed shells gleaming in the dim cavern light. My stomach churned.

The guard reached the center and unceremoniously dumped the golden chest at the foot of the nest. As he turned to leave, a figure emerged from the shadows—a hunched old woman, moving with an eerie stillness.

Kayne hissed, and a wave of protective energy flared within me as the power of the Kayne Bloodstone ignited.

The woman’s face was obscured, but the deep scar slashing across what little I could see made her even more grotesque. The air around her was thick with something vile, something that pressed against me like a suffocating fog. I gagged, taking a step back on instinct.

The guard who had brought the gold gestured for me to follow him out, but before I could turn, the old woman’s voice cut through the air. "The new guard’s scent is different."

I forced my face into a neutral expression as the guard stiffened beside me.

"He is new," the guard said quickly. "Just got posted from the mountain."

The old woman wrinkled her nose in distaste. "You must have spent too much time at the coven. You’ve picked up the scent of those geezers."

I swallowed, careful not to react as she flicked her fingers in dismissal. But I knew what she was doing, she was scenting the air, scenting Dante. I exhaled slowly and turned on my heel, following the guard out as casually as I could manage. The steel doors slammed shut behind us, and the guard let out a deep, shaky breath.

"The gold is running out," he muttered under his breath, barely loud enough for me to hear. "I wonder what Lord Marcel will do when there’s nothing left to feed the nest."

He gave me a curt nod, then strode off into the tunnels, leaving me alone in the dimly lit corridor.

I clenched my jaw, my mind racing. Pa’s blood. Dante’s scent. The nest crawling with those cursed bugs.

"I swear, I smelled your Pa’s blood in the nest, "Elder Dante’s voice rose beside me.

"It was her. She killed Pa and drank his blood. We need to find out who she is," I hissed, clenching my fists as rage coiled tight in my chest.

Dante exhaled sharply beside me. "Are you sure?"

I closed my eyes, forcing myself to breathe past the burning fury rising within me. The scent was undeniable, Pa’s blood mixed with that old woman’s sickening aura. The moment she stepped out of the shadows, my beast, Kayne, had stirred with violent recognition. She was the one.

Dante placed a hand on my shoulder, grounding me before I lost control. "We can’t act rashly, Frery. Not here."

I sucked in a sharp breath, my jaw tightening. He was right. If we made a move now, we would expose ourselves, and worse, we might never make it out of this cursed place alive. I opened my eyes, meeting Dante’s serious gaze. "Then we find out who she is," I said, my voice steady despite the storm raging within me.

Dante nodded. "We will. But first, we need to get out of here in one piece."

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