The Forgotten Pulse of the Bond-Chapter 105: The Secret in the Stone

You felt that, right?" Beckett’s voice cut through the thick silence as his torchlight flickered against the ancient stone wall. He crouched, eyes narrowing at the faint pulse beneath the cracked floor tiles.

Camille stepped cautiously behind him, her hands trembling as they brushed over the stone-laced air. "It’s like... something’s breathing. But not here. Beneath."

Celeste knelt on the far end of the chamber, her fingers ghosting over the runes engraved into the circular platform. "The rhythm matches no spell I’ve ever encountered. This isn’t protective magic. It’s containment."

The chamber had been sealed for decades, possibly centuries. Located deep under the old temple wing of the estate, it was a vault known only through whispers passed by elders long gone. Rumors said it was buried for a reason. And now it was waking.

Camille knelt next to Beckett, her breath catching in her throat. The slab before them glowed faintly, just once, then faded. "There," she whispered. "Again. It knows I’m here."

Beckett looked at her, eyes wide. "You mean it’s reacting to you?"

Celeste stood. "We need to activate the binding script. Before it opens."

"No," Camille said, standing as though pulled upward by invisible strings. Her hands moved on their own, fingertips tracing long-forgotten symbols carved into the stone’s surface. "It’s not dangerous. It’s... ancient. Alive. And it’s waiting for me."

The slab groaned. Dust fell from the ceiling.

Beckett rose to pull her back. "Camille, "

But the stone beneath them pulsed. Once. Twice. A heartbeat.

Camille didn’t scream. She gasped, softly, reverently, as her eyes rolled back. "It’s always been there. The warmth. The heartbeat inside me. It wasn’t just the child..."

Celeste’s expression darkened. "Camille. Step away now."

Camille turned to them. Her voice was softer, nearly melodic. "The stone is a gate. And I’m the key. The prophecy didn’t lie."

Before Celeste could intervene, the runes on the stone flared, white-hot light illuminating the chamber as the vault split down the center. The walls trembled. A deep, guttural exhale echoed around them, as though the room itself had been holding its breath for generations.

A glowing crystal sphere rose from the center of the slab. Suspended in air, it rotated slowly, dripping iridescent liquid that evaporated before it touched the ground. At its core was a shape, pulsing, shifting, like a growing child curled in slumber.

Beckett’s voice cracked. "What the hell is that?"

Camille stepped forward again. The light warmed her skin. "It’s not a weapon. It’s not a prison. It’s... potential."

Celeste moved between them. "You don’t know what it is. Step back."

But Camille’s gaze was locked to the floating orb. Her voice was low, haunted. "I’ve felt it for weeks. Every night, when I sleep, I feel the heartbeat. I thought it was the baby. But this... this is older. Deeper. And it’s inside me."

Beckett looked to Celeste. "Is it possible she’s linked to it through the child?"

Celeste’s lips pressed into a tight line. "Not just through the child. Through blood."

The orb flared brighter. Images began flickering inside it, women in crimson cloaks, chanting; a forest of burned trees; a child’s scream; a crown of thorns floating on a river of ash.

Camille flinched. "That voice, it’s speaking again."

"What does it say?" Celeste asked, slowly removing the Luna dagger from her robe.

Camille closed her eyes. "It says... ’The womb is the gate. The child, the war.’"

The air turned heavy.

Celeste froze. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "That’s a Spellbinder omen."

Beckett frowned. "What does it mean?"

Celeste didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she reached toward the orb, tracing the arcane symbols carved around its glow. "It’s prophecy," she finally murmured. "A rare one. Buried after the Spellbinders were executed. It was believed lost with the massacre."

Camille’s hand hovered over the orb now. Her fingers trembled, her voice unsteady. "So... it’s true. I’m the vessel."

The orb pulsed once more.

"No," Celeste said. "You’re more than that. You’re the trigger."

Camille turned to her, eyes wide and glassy. "I didn’t want this. I didn’t ask for any of it."

"You were chosen," Celeste replied sharply. "Not invited."

A crack split the stone floor. A shaft of glowing red light beamed up toward the ceiling, fracturing the seal entirely. The orb shattered, its contents rushing into Camille’s chest like smoke.

She screamed.

Her body lifted from the ground, arms stretched, head tilted back, as the chamber spun around her. Glyphs appeared on her skin, glowing along her collarbone, her stomach, her thighs.

Beckett rushed forward. "Camille!"

Celeste pulled him back. "Don’t touch her!"

Camille dropped like dead weight, falling into Beckett’s arms. She coughed once, then opened her eyes.

But they weren’t her eyes.

They glowed a bright silver-blue, rimmed in black. Her voice, when she spoke, was deeper. Calm. Terrifying.

"She is the gate," the voice said through Camille’s mouth. "And the war has already begun."

Celeste took a step back. "Who are you?"

"We are what was bound. And now... we remember."

Camille blinked, then collapsed unconscious.

The stone was silent once more.

Beckett knelt beside her, cradling her head. "Is she breathing?"

Celeste nodded slowly. "Barely. But yes."

He glanced back at the now-dark slab. "What do we do with it?"

"We guard it," Celeste said, her voice thick. "And we pray that wasn’t just an awakening."

"Then what was it?" Beckett asked.

Celeste looked at Camille. "A warning."

"No," Magnolia muttered, her breath fogging in the chill chamber.

"What did you see?" Celeste asked gently from the archway, her face half-shrouded in torchlight.

Magnolia’s hand trembled as she pushed herself off the cold stone. "They were burning. All of them."

Celeste stepped forward but didn’t touch her. "Your ancestors."

Magnolia nodded, dazed. Her gown clung to her in damp patches, soaked from the steam rising off the moon pool. The glyphs carved into the chamber’s walls pulsed faintly as though responding to her.

"It felt real," Magnolia whispered. "Like I was there."

"You were."

"They called to me by name. One of them was, " She hesitated, then turned her wide, tear-glossed eyes to Celeste. "She looked like Camille. Red hair, the same shape of her face. Pregnant. She was running."

Celeste’s face tightened. "You saw the Red One."

"Is that what she’s called?"

"Among the older covens, yes. A forbidden name. That woman... she carried the child who was prophesied to break the Alpha lines."

Magnolia swayed. "Camille..."

The pool behind them hissed louder. Steam veiled the runes. Power still hummed under Magnolia’s skin. She felt it beating with her pulse.

Celeste finally placed a hand on her shoulder, grounding her. "You’re awakening more quickly than expected. We must return to the estate. Now."

But Magnolia turned back to the pool. Her voice was a thread. "I saw a field. Ashes. A village burning. Men, wolves, slaughtering the women who chanted. They were screaming but never ran. They let it happen."

Celeste nodded once. "That was the Massacre at Hollow Glen. It happened during the last Blood Eclipse."

Magnolia looked back, her expression sharpened with dread. "When is the next Eclipse?"

"Six days."

The chamber trembled subtly. Behind them, footsteps echoed. Beckett appeared, his face grim and pale. "Camille’s gone again. She left claw marks along the mirror walls."

Celeste groaned. "Damn it."

Magnolia turned sharply. "I need to find her."

"You can barely stand," Beckett said.

"I saw her. She’s part of it. If she’s the one who carries that child, "

"Then we need to protect her," Celeste said.

Beckett raised a brow. "Or stop her."

Celeste shot him a warning look. "Not yet. Not until we know which side she falls on."

The torches dimmed for a moment. The pool behind them flared. A shadow crawled across the surface, the same red-haired woman now bathed in blood, holding a child that glowed like a furnace.

Magnolia froze. "Did you see that?"

Beckett shook his head. "See what?"

Celeste stepped forward but the image was gone. Just steam and stone.

"The child," Magnolia breathed. "I think I just saw the child she gave birth to. It was like... a sun."

Celeste gripped both their arms. "Then we’re out of time. Come. We must speak to Rhett. Tonight."

The hallway to Rhett’s war room was darkened, draped in heavy velvet to muffle sound. Guards stood alert. As Celeste approached, they parted without question.

Rhett was standing over the war table, shirtless, arms tense. The candlelight glinted off the ridges of his back. Old scars. New ones.

He turned when they entered. His golden eyes landed on Magnolia first. "You’re hurt."

"Not hurt. Changed."

His brow furrowed. He crossed the room in a few strides and stopped inches from her. "What happened?"

"I saw the massacre. Hollow Glen. But more than that. I saw Camille’s face. Pregnant. Running."

Rhett’s expression darkened. "She’s not with child."

"Are you sure?" Celeste cut in.

He didn’t answer.

Beckett leaned on the table. "We need to talk about what she’s carrying. Not just in her body. In her blood."

Magnolia turned to him. "The glyphs burned into my palms. I think they’re connected."

Rhett reached for her hands. They were still warm to the touch, the symbols faintly glowing. He looked up. "What did the pool show you?"

Magnolia hesitated. "A war. Not just between packs. Something bigger. It starts with Camille’s child."

Silence fell.

Celeste turned to the shelves and retrieved an old scroll. She unrolled it with care. "The prophecy of the Second Burning. It was always thought to be metaphorical."

"But it’s real," Magnolia said. "The child is real."

Beckett looked between them. "And if she gives birth during the Eclipse, it amplifies whatever power is inside."

Rhett’s fists clenched. "Then we have six days."

"To do what?" Magnolia asked.

He looked up at her, jaw tight. "To decide if we protect the child or end the bloodline."

A gust of wind blew through the sealed chamber. The torches shivered. From somewhere in the estate, a scream echoed. High. Human. Camille.

Rhett didn’t hesitate. He grabbed his jacket. "She’s near the vault again."

Magnolia followed without thinking. Her heart hammered. Behind them, Celeste whispered a single word to Beckett: "It’s begun."

They found her curled at the base of the mirror stair, blood smeared on her fingertips, eyes wide.

Camille looked up. "I heard the heartbeat again. It’s louder now. I think it’s coming from me."

Rhett knelt beside her. "Tell me everything you’ve been hiding."

Camille reached for Magnolia. Her fingers were cold. "When I fainted in the vault... I felt something latch onto me. Not just magic. A presence. Since then, my dreams, they’ve not been mine."

Magnolia sat beside her, heart still racing from the visions. "You said you’ve felt a heartbeat."

Camille nodded. "Not just one. Two."

Rhett stood slowly. "Twins?"

Celeste arrived, panting. "No. One heartbeat is hers. The other..."

She turned to the glowing stone Camille had dropped nearby. Beckett retrieved it with a cloth.

Celeste whispered a verse as she scanned the stone.

Magnolia leaned closer. "What does it say?"

Celeste looked up. Her face had drained of all color. "The womb is the gate. The child, the war."

Camille choked on a breath. "I’ve felt the heartbeat for weeks. I thought I was losing my mind."

Magnolia placed a hand on her stomach, gently. She closed her eyes, and her own glyphs glowed.

She saw it. A sun-like orb, pulsing.

"It’s alive," she whispered.

Rhett turned away, his expression unreadable.

Celeste stood beside him. "What now?"

His voice was hoarse. "Now, we prepare for a birth... or a war."

From deep within the vault, something cracked. A tremor shook the floor.

The stone in Beckett’s hand split in half.

The heartbeat got louder.

And the lights went out.