CHAPTER 183: THE UNDERGROUND ARENA...

Kael

From the moment I woke up this morning, I couldn’t shake the pull in my chest. The one that had been haunting me for days. It was a deep pull like an invisible thread tugging me somewhere I needed to be.

I’d had the same dream last night about the same woman, the same blood, those eyes and everything else that I’ve been seeing since I started having the dreams. I managed to attend morning classes, although I half-listened while also trying to avoid Sandra.

After lunch break, I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

It was as if I didn’t give in to it, the lingering urge would kill me. So I followed the feeling.

Just as I started moving, that is, after I’d made a conscious effort to follow my thought, I caught a scent. At first, it was unmistakable, and I couldn’t explain what it smelled like exactly, but it was something odd mixed with the smell of the earth after rainfall that made my wolf stir restlessly inside me.

I started following the scent like a bloodhound on a trail. The late-afternoon sun shone brightly throughout the campus as students hurried past me on their way to the last lectures of the evening, their chatter filling the air. I passed rows of open windows echoing with ongoing lectures about pack history or economic failures of our world.

I passed a group of first-years sitting on the lawn, studying together. Their books were spread out on the grass, and they looked happy. Someone laughed loudly from the athletics field where the afternoon training session was in full swing.

Some of the students waved as I walked by, and I nodded back, pretending I was going about my day.

The scent led me past the library, where students lined up at the entrance, talking in groups. I cut through the courtyard where the fountain bubbled cheerfully, past the dining hall where lunch service was ending. A few teachers nodded at me as I passed, but I didn’t stop to talk.

The scent was getting stronger.

I walked past the arts building, where music spilt out from a practice room—someone playing piano, the notes slightly off-key. Past the science labs with their smell of chemicals. Past the dormitories, where a few stragglers were still heading out for their afternoon classes.

The pathway ended down a narrow path that led behind the gymnasium. Beyond that, there was nothing but an empty field.

I found myself at the edge of an open field. It was a large, empty stretch of grass that most students used for informal gatherings or outdoor study sessions. Nothing special about it. Nothing remarkable.

Only the scent was stronger here.

I stopped at the edge of the field, scanning the area. There was nothing. No buildings. No structures. No entrance to anything. Just grass and sky and the distant tree line.

But the scent was so strong it made my head spin.

I walked into the field slowly, turning in circles, looking for something—anything—that would explain this pull. A hidden door. A trap door. Some kind of entrance. But there was nothing—just an empty field.

I circled the perimeter once, twice, three times. My frustration grew with each pass. This didn’t make sense. The scent was here. Right here. But there was nothing to find.

I circled the field again, this time checking the edges and scanning for any signs of an opening. Nothing. Not even a loose patch of dirt.

My heart hammered with frustration. "What the hell are you hiding?" I muttered.

The pull inside me grew stronger, nearly painful now. It was like invisible chains around my ribs, tugging me toward the centre of the field. I clenched my fists, trying to breathe through my nostrils.

I started to walk away, convinced I was losing my mind.

But I couldn’t do it. My feet stopped moving after just a few steps. Something was pulling me back, stronger than ever. It felt like trying to walk away from my own shadow.

Fine. If my human senses couldn’t figure this out, maybe my wolf could.

I checked to make sure no one was watching, then shifted into my wolf.

In seconds, I was standing on four legs instead of two. Black, my wolf, took control.

And immediately, everything changed.

It was like someone had turned up the volume and brightness on the world. I could hear everything—the rustle of a mouse in the grass fifty feet away, the whisper of wind through individual blades of grass, the heartbeat of a bird in a tree at the edge of the field. I could see colours I didn’t have names for, layers of the world I’d never noticed before.

But more than that, I could sense things. The earth beneath my paws. The movement of air currents. The way energy flows through living things. It was as if Black had evolved overnight, becoming more aware and more connected to everything around us.

What is happening to me? I thought.

Black didn’t answer with words. Instead, he took off running toward the centre of the field.

I wasn’t controlling him. He was moving on his own, following the same instinct that had brought me here. We reached the exact centre of the field, and Black started digging.

Dirt flew behind us as we dug furiously, our claws tearing through grass and soil. Deeper and deeper we went, creating a hole that grew larger by the second.

Then our claws hit something solid. It was metal.

Black stopped digging and stepped back. I shifted back to human form, breathing hard, staring down at what we’d uncovered.

It was a metal door, covered in dirt and rust. Square, about three feet across, with a thick handle on one side.

And a keyhole in the centre.

My hands were shaking as I reached down and brushed away the remaining dirt. The metal was old—really old, making me wonder how long it had been buried here.

I tried the handle first, but it was locked solid.

I looked around for something to break it with. Found a large stone near the edge of my digging hole. I lifted it with both hands and brought it down hard on the keyhole.

CLANG!

The impact sent vibrations up my arms. The lock didn’t budge.

I tried again. And again. Five times I smashed that stone against the lock, putting all my strength into it. Nothing.

I threw the stone aside in frustration and searched for something else. Found a thick branch that had fallen from a nearby tree. Wedged it into the handle and tried to use it as a lever.

CRACK!

The branch snapped in half.

I tried smaller sticks, trying to pick the lock like I’d seen in movies. They just broke off inside the keyhole or bent uselessly.

I sat back on my heels, sweating and frustrated. This was ridiculous. There had to be a way to—

Wait.

I looked at the keyhole again. Really looked at it.

There was no key. Just the hole itself. But what if...

Almost as an afterthought, I reached down and grabbed the handle. It was covered in old, flaking rust. I wrapped my fingers around it and pulled.

It opened.

Just like that. One single tug and the metal door swung upward with a loud creak.

I stared at it, dumbfounded. All that effort trying to break in, and it had been unlocked the whole time?

Below the door was darkness. A set of stone steps leading down into nothing. The scent I’d been following poured up from the opening, so strong now it was almost suffocating.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart.

This was insane. I should get help. Tell someone. But the pull was so strong now, and insistent, that the thought of walking away was physically painful.

I lowered myself onto the first step. Then the second. Looking down into the darkness below me.

This is a terrible idea, I thought.

But I kept going.

I pulled the metal door closed above me, and the world went black.

For a few seconds, I couldn’t see anything—just total darkness. I stood frozen on the steps, waiting for my eyes to adjust, my heart pounding so loud I could hear it in my ears.

Slowly, very slowly, shapes began to emerge. The steps beneath my feet. The walls on either side. Just barely visible in the absolute darkness.

I started moving forward, one careful step at a time.

I stumbled almost immediately. My foot caught on something—a crack in the stone, maybe—and I pitched forward. I saw myself against the wall, scraping my palms on rough stone.

I tried again. Made it three more steps before stumbling again.

This was impossible. I couldn’t see where I was going. Every step was a gamble. I realised, too late, that I’d left my phone in my room. No flashlight. No light of any kind.

Brilliant, Kael. Really brilliant.

I stopped moving and thought. There had to be a better way to do this.

I reached out with both hands and pressed them flat against the wall on my right side. The stone was cold and rough under my palms. Using the wall as a guide, I started moving forward again, sliding my hands along the surface, letting it direct me.

It worked better. I stumbled less, moved more confidently.

I’d taken maybe ten steps like this when I felt something change under my hands. The stone grew warm. Then warmer. Then hot.

I tried to pull my hands away, but they were stuck. It seemed as though the wall was holding them there.

The stone began to glow.