The Forgotten Pulse of the Bond-Chapter 66: Wolves in Disguise

"Get the door open," Rhett commanded, his voice edged with urgency.

Lucia didn’t hesitate. Her fingers moved across the aged chapel floor, pressing into symbols carved into the marble, symbols no one else seemed to notice until now. The altar gave a low groan and shifted, revealing a hidden stairway descending into darkness.

Savannah stood behind Rhett, arms crossed tightly, jaw clenched. "Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?"

"Because I might have," he murmured, before descending into the passage.

The steps were steep, lined with damp stone, and the scent of earth and something older wafted up as they moved deeper. Savannah followed silently. The air grew colder, heavier, like every breath cost more.

"Sterling used to come down here," Rhett said without turning around. "I always thought he was praying. Turns out, he was planning."

They reached a wide underground room sealed with rusted chains. Rhett kicked the door open, and the smell of old parchment and mildew rushed out. Candles still flickered on sconces, as if they’d been lit moments ago.

Maps lined the stone walls, maps of territories, bloodlines, names crossed out in red. In the center stood a large wooden table, covered with scrolls, and atop it sat a sealed leather dossier, its edges burned.

Savannah stepped forward, eyes scanning the contents. "What is this?"

"War plans," Rhett said grimly. "Drafted decades ago. Some even older. Look, here."

He unrolled one brittle scroll. Faint ink revealed a family tree, names interwoven across multiple packs, several of them circled with symbols that made Savannah’s stomach tighten.

"What’s that crest?" she asked, pointing to the one drawn in faded ink, a wolf’s skull, surrounded by a ring of thorns.

"The Hollowfang Circle," Rhett said. "They were Sterling’s secret faction. Formed in the shadows. They didn’t follow the usual pack hierarchy, they answered only to blood. His blood."

Savannah’s brow creased. "And you never knew?"

"No. Because I wasn’t supposed to." His eyes darkened. "I was never their chosen heir."

A low, vibrating hum interrupted them.

Lucia stood at the far corner, her hand pressed to a hidden compartment in the wall. She pulled it open and withdrew a thick, metal-bound book. Dust flurried from its cover as she opened it, and there, among rows of names, was one she didn’t expect to see.

"Savannah Langley."

Her breath caught.

She took the book and scanned the entry beside her name. There were annotations. Codes. And a final stamped sentence:

> "Subject viable. Eliminate before full awakening."

"What does this mean?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"It means they’ve been watching you longer than we thought," Rhett said.

Lucia narrowed her eyes. "And planning to kill you before you become a threat."

Savannah closed the book. "They’ll have to do more than plan."

Suddenly, a sharp noise echoed from above, a crash. Then another. Muffled shouting.

"They’re here," Rhett growled. He grabbed the dossier and stuffed it into his coat. "Back up the stairs. Now."

They ascended quickly, weapons drawn. When they burst back into the chapel, a storm had erupted, wind slamming the stained-glass windows, the great doors rattling on their hinges.

Then silence.

Rhett held a hand up, motioning them to stillness.

A sound broke through: a low whimper.

He crossed the chapel quickly, pushing open the side door near the vestry. There, lying just inside the threshold, was a wooden crate. And beside it, a symbol scorched into the floor, the Hollowfang skull.

He flung the crate open.

Inside was a severed wolf paw, wrapped in black silk. Clutched in the paw’s curled claws was a silver engagement ring.

Savannah’s face paled. "That’s Camille’s ring."

"She’s not wearing it anymore," Rhett said grimly. "Which means she didn’t run."

Lucia knelt beside the crate, pulling something else from the silk, a coin etched with runes and a burned corner of a sketchbook. Magnolia’s sketchbook.

"They’re baiting us," Savannah whispered. "They want us to come after them."

Rhett straightened. "They’ll get their wish."

The chapel lights flickered. A hidden bell deep in the estate rang three times.

An alarm. The kind Sterling used to test response time during drills. But Sterling was dead.

"Get to the control room," Rhett ordered Lucia. "And check the perimeter."

As she moved, Savannah’s voice wavered. "What if this is just the beginning?"

"It is," Rhett replied. "But we’re not walking into it blind."

Savannah grabbed his arm. "Promise me something."

He looked at her, war still etched into his face.

"Don’t shut me out. Whatever’s coming, we face it together."

He nodded once, jaw tightening. "Always."

The sharp clang of the bell echoed again through the estate halls. Rhett’s spine stiffened. This wasn’t just a bell anymore, it was a call to arms.

He turned sharply. "Seal every entry point. No one in. No one out."

Lucia vanished into the shadows.

Rhett moved fast through the grand hall. Lanterns flickered where the wind cracked the stained-glass, casting bruised rainbows across the floor. As he passed the portraits of the Callahan line, he paused at Sterling’s, eyes cold, lips twisted in a smirk that never faded.

He didn’t hear Savannah’s approach until her voice cut through the dark.

"Why is there blood on the chapel floor?"

"I didn’t want to wake you," he said.

"You didn’t. The house did."

He reached for her hand. "Come with me. There’s more you need to see."

They descended again. Candlelight had shifted. The scent of iron filled the air.

The crate. The paw. The ring.

Savannah stepped forward. "They want to see if I’ll break."

"You won’t," Rhett said. "We’ll break them first."

She looked at him, fire burning. "What’s the Hollowfang Circle?"

Rhett exhaled. "Sterling created them before I was born. They want the bloodline pure. Which means, "

"Which means they want me gone."

"Exactly."

She didn’t flinch. "Then we take their throne. And burn them out from the inside."

Before he could respond, a voice echoed from the stairwell.

"Mr. Callahan, "

Beckett. Barely standing. Bloodied and shaking.

Rhett rushed forward, catching him before he collapsed. "What happened?"

Beckett wheezed, "They... set a trap. I found Camille’s sketchbook... by the north ridge trail. But it was planted. Two Syndicate wolves... I barely..."

Savannah knelt, brushing back his hair. "You’re safe now." ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

Beckett clutched Rhett’s coat. "They said... the Hollowfangs know the prophecy’s real. They’re going to take her. Tonight."

Rhett’s pulse surged. He looked at Savannah.

"It’s begun," he said.

Savannah nodded, calm and resolute.

"Then let’s finish it."