The Echo Beneath the Stone

Luca DeLuca POV

The sun had barely begun its slow crawl over the canyon when Luca rose.

Adunni was still curled beneath the thin blanket near the base of the monolith, its strange silver etchings softly pulsing against the first breath of dawn. Her skin glowed faintly—not human, not fully wolf, but something greater that made his chest tighten and burn.

He stood still for a moment, watching her.

She murmured something in her sleep.

A word in a language he didn't recognize. Ancient. Rhythmic.

He wasn't alone.

Not in the romantic sense. Not even in the protective sense.

He felt eyes.

---

Luca's Instinct Awakens

It was subtle.

A shift in the wind that didn't match the direction.

A scuff of stone beneath deliberate footsteps—then silence.

He didn't growl. Didn't call out.

Alpha instincts were quieter than that.

Instead, he knelt, brushing his fingers across a half-buried patch of ground a few paces from the fire circle. The dust had been shifted recently.

Too recently.

"Tracks," he muttered, barely audible.

Wolf-silent, he began following them—bare feet on red dust, body taut like a drawn bow. The tracks led around the edge of the basin, then abruptly stopped.

Cut clean.

As if whoever had been there had vanished.

Or shifted.

"Watcher," he growled softly.

He quickly goes back to check on Adunni, seeing her still sleeping. He sighs relieved.

Behind him, Adunni stirred. She sat up, her eyes fogged with dreamlight.

"Luca?"

He turned back quickly, controlled his tone.

"Did you see anyone last night?"

She blinked, then frowned. "No. But... something changed in the dream."

He was already by her side, crouching.

"Explain."

She touched her chest where her grandmother's voice had bloomed hours ago.

"There was a gate. Hidden under water. A stone like this one—split in two. She said it was sealed until 'blood meets root.' That's when I woke up."

He looked past her to the monolith.

Its pulse had shifted.

Slower now.

Calling deeper.

---

They didn't wait.

Within minutes, Luca was helping Adunni lower herself into a narrow crevice near the base of the monolith where the dust had receded overnight. As if the land itself had moved to reveal what had been buried.

Below, there was a hollow chamber.

Not natural. Carved.

They descended by rope, flashlight beams slicing through the dark. The air was thick—like water without moisture. Still and heavy with forgotten secrets.

Symbols lined the chamber. Some matched the Rome pillar. Others were entirely new—etched in Nsibidi script mixed with Roman Lunari glyphs.

At the far end of the chamber, a shallow stone basin sat half-filled with black water.

Adunni knelt beside it. Her breath hitched.

"It's blood memory."

Luca tensed. "Say that again?"

"It's used to anchor ancestral energy. Only hybrids—or those descended from primordial wolves—can access it without triggering a defensive reaction."

She looked up at him, eyes wide.

"My grandmother… she knew this was here. She led me here."

Just as she reached to touch the basin, Luca caught her wrist.

"Wait."

His tone was calm but edged.

"I don't like this. Someone's been watching us. Tracking our movements. I can feel it in the air."

Adunni's brow furrowed. "You think Darius already knows?"

"I think he's closer than we assumed."

He paused.

Then added, darkly, "And I think someone helped him get that close."

---

The Stone Speaks

Suddenly, the basin trembled.

Ripples formed in the black surface—glowing softly like silver under the moon.

Adunni pulled her hand back instinctively. The ripples stilled.

Then a single image appeared.

A burning tree, roots turned inward. Beneath it: a figure with two faces. One wolf. One woman.

Adunni whispered, "It's me."

And Luca, standing behind her, already knew she was right.

Because the moment the vision ended, he heard it again—footsteps in the tunnel above.

But this time, they didn't vanish.

They were coming closer.

The glow of the blood basin dimmed.

Above them, footsteps echoed again—measured. Deliberate. Getting closer.

Luca's body shifted beside her, shoulders tensing as he turned toward the narrow entrance shaft they'd just descended. His voice was low, calm, but carried a sharp edge.

"We don't know who it is. Could be Camilla. Could be something else."

Adunni reached instinctively for the dagger Luca had given her before they left Rome—a silver-and-obsidian blade etched with runes she hadn't yet dared to decipher. She felt its warmth hum through her fingers like it recognized her.

Her voice came quiet but sure.

"It's not Camilla. She's too light on her feet."

Luca's lips pressed into a thin line. He nodded.

"Then we treat this like a trap."

---

Luca moved like a ghost, positioning himself behind one of the broken stone pillars, his eyes glowing faintly silver in the dark.

Adunni turned toward the basin, forcing her pulse to slow.

Her grandmother's words from the dream came back to her.

"When blood meets root, the veil shall thin. When hunted, show your fangs."

She whispered a silent prayer to the ancestors, then pivoted, eyes scanning the corridor.

A shadow passed the threshold of the tunnel above them.

Then a second.

Not one visitor.

Two.

---

Luca looked at her. Just once.

They didn't need to speak aloud.

If they came through the tunnel, Luca would engage. If they used magic or scent redirection, Adunni would call her power. A shared rhythm had begun to bloom between them in the days since their connection deepened.

But this was their first true test.

Adunni adjusted her stance, dagger ready. "Whoever you are," she called out, voice echoing up the shaft, "you're in sacred ground. Show yourself or we call down the guardians."

The footsteps paused.

Then a woman's voice, amused and clipped:

"My, my. The hybrid speaks."

Adunni froze. She knew that voice.

---

Anya

Anya emerged from the tunnel slowly, her hands raised. Her presence alone set Luca's teeth on edge.

Behind her was a taller figure, face masked by a dark scarf—eyes glowing amber. Not human.

"Hello, Luca," Anya said. "Hello, Adunni. Fancy seeing you here."

Luca stepped out from cover, his voice a low snarl.

"You're not cleared to be in the field."

Anya smirked. "Darius cleared me."

She looked at the basin behind Adunni and clicked her tongue.

"So it's true. The old legends were right. And you—" She pointed to Adunni. "You're the key."

Adunni stepped forward, eyes flaring gold.

Her voice dropped into a register that wasn't just hers.

"And you're trespassing."

---

As tension thickened, the monolith above hummed again.

The carvings on the wall behind the basin began to shimmer faintly—triggered by Adunni's rising anger. Wind swept through the chamber, despite it being sealed. The smell of iron, ash, and distant flowers filled the air.

Luca didn't move, but his entire body was ready to pounce.

"Don't make this worse," he warned. "Turn around and leave. You won't like what happens if she unleashes it."

Anya's masked companion stepped forward.

Too fast.

Adunni barely raised her hand before a burst of lunar energy crackled from her palm, knocking the figure back into the wall with a boom.

He groaned and did not rise.

Anya hissed and dropped her smile.

"You don't know what you're dealing with," she said, stepping back. "Darius is already three steps ahead. He has more than just spies."

"Good," Luca said darkly. "Then he can send someone better."

---

Before disappearing up the tunnel, Anya turned back to Adunni and hissed:

"You're not just the prophecy. You're the final gate. And if you open it without control, you'll doom us all."

" You need Darius to lead you"

Then she vanished.

The air stilled.

Adunni stood panting, her hand shaking from the power surge.

Luca caught her wrist and pulled her gently against his chest.

"That wasn't just energy. That was a warning from the monolith. It recognized you."

She nodded against him.

"It's waking something, Luca. And I don't know if I'm ready for what it wants."