bChapter /bb160 /b

bCaleb’s /bPO.V

“This bdoesn’t /bmake sense,” I said aloud, the words heavier than I intended. “Who could’ve cleared out this room but left the whole house to rot away? We didn’t bsee /bany forced entry. No signs of anyoneing in or out.” I looked at Damien, who was inspecting the walls with a frown.

“It’s like the stuff here just… vanished.”

Damien turned to me, his face as grim as ever. “I don’t think it’s safe for us to be here alone, Caleb,” he said, his voice low. “I bcan’t /bshake off bthis /bsensation bthat /bsomeone might as well be keeping an eyes on us. Maybe bwe /bshoulde backter with more people?” He shifted uneasily, his eyes darting to bthe /bbopen /b

door.

Before I could respond, a noise outside made us both snap to attention. A low, creaking sound, followed by the unmistakable m of the front door. My pulse quickened as Damien and I exchanged a nce, then bolted out of the room. Our footsteps echoing in the narrow hallway.

When bwe /breached the front door, it was shut tight, the faint scent of burnt wood hanging in the air. But it wasn’t the door that caught bmy /battention–bit /bwas the walls. The ck mold that had clung to the corners and edges like a sickness suddenly began to ignite. Thinb, /bunnatural mes licked along bthe /bjagged patches, consuming the mold and spreading to the wood or ster underneath.

“What the hell-” Damien started, but I cut him off, pulling him back as the mes spread faster than seemed possible, racing along the edges of the hallway. The fire wasn’t natural, and neither was the way it seemed to hum, low and menacing, as though it were aliveb. /b

“This isn’t just a coincidence,” I muttered, my voice steady despite the rising panic in my chest. “I think we weren’t supposed to see that room. And now they’re making sure we don’t live to tell the tale.”

The heat was unbearable, a thick, suffocating wave pressing against my skin as I mmed my shoulder into the front door again. bMy /bwolf roared within me, urging me to keep going, but even with ourbined strength, the damn thing didn’t budge. Damien was on my right, his bfists /bpounding furiously against the wood, his growls echoing through the house.

“It’s not moving!” he snapped, his voice tight with frustration. “How the fuck is that even possible? It’s just wood!”

The smoke was getting thicker, curling around us like a living thing, wing at our throats and stinging our beyes/b. The fire was relentless, devouring everything in its path, and I could hear the crackle of wood turning to ash all around us.

“Try the windows!” I shouted, already sprinting toward the nearest room, Damien was on my bheels/b, and we split up, moving from room to room in a desperate search for a way out. Each window we tried was the same–bolted shut, unyielding, as if the house itself had turned against bus/bb. /b

My ws scratched at the ss, my fists hammering against the framesb, /bbut nothing worked. The fire didn’t care about our efforts. It was everywhere now, creeping along the walls, licking at the edges of furniture, turning the once–familiar house into a zing hell.

“Caleb! Upstairs!” Damien’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp andmanding. I spun around, coughing as the smoke filled my lungs, and followed bthe /bsound of his footsteps thundering up the stairs.

My muscles burned, and my wolf was restless, urging me to keep moving even as exhaustion tugged at my limbs. When I reached the top. Damien bwas /bstanding in the hallway, his face slick with sweat and soot, pointing toward a door at the end of the corridor.

“There’s no mold in there!” he shouted. “bIt’s /bthe only chance bwe’ve /bgot!”

like a wave–the air bwas /bbclearer /bhere, the mes held at bay for now. It took me a second to realize I didn’t stop to question him. The hallway bwas /ba gauntlet of smoke and me, the heat blistering against my skin, but I pushed through it, throwing the door open and stumbling into the room. Relief hit where I wasb. /bThe scent gave it away first–soft, familiar, likevender and something faintly bsweet/b.

Aurora’s room.