Chapter 5 Something Beneath

The note stayed in her hand for a long time.

She didn't move. Didn't blink. Just stared at the words as if they'd change if she waited long enough.

You are not safe.

No signature. No scent. No trace.

She turned it over.

Blank.

Who had left it? Someone inside the Hollow? Someone watching her from the outside?

Or worse-someone who knew exactly who she was and why she was here?

A message like that wasn't just a warning.

It was a test.

---

By morning, the Hollow was colder. Not in temperature-but in tone.

Wolves no longer nodded in passing. Patrols doubled along the stone paths. Conversations broke off the moment she walked into a room.

They knew something. Or suspected.

Either way, the air had changed.

Rhea dressed in silence and tied her blades under her coat. She didn't wear them visibly-Silver Hollow was all about calm appearances-but she was trained in one truth:

You never walked blind into a place you didn't trust.

---

She found Lucien near the training fields.

Not leading a group. Not speaking.

Just watching from the edge of the trees, arms crossed, expression carved from stone.

She didn't approach at first.

She watched him-how he moved, how he didn't move. Wolves passed him with quiet respect, some offering nods. No one touched him. No one interrupted.

Rhea stepped beside him and said nothing.

For a moment, he didn't look at her.

Then: "You saw something last night, didn't you?"

She didn't flinch. "Yes."

Lucien turned his head. His eyes met hers.

"Tell me."

"I saw eyes in the forest. Watching from the north."

"You're sure it wasn't a wolf?"

"They didn't move like a wolf."

A pause.

Then: "There's an old story in Silver Hollow. One they stopped telling the younger wolves a long time ago."

"What kind of story?"

Lucien looked back toward the forest.

"Of something older than the packs. Something that sleeps beneath the roots of the land. Buried deep. Hidden. Waiting."

Rhea frowned. "You believe it?"

"I believe something is waking."

---

Later, she returned to her room and found something out of place.

Not much.

Just... the curtain over her window was folded differently.

Too neatly.

She stepped in slowly. Checked the walls. The closet. The trunk.

Nothing obvious was missing.

But someone had been here.

And they'd wanted her to know it.

She locked the door behind her and slid the second note under the mattress.

Her heartbeat wouldn't slow.

She wasn't afraid.

But she was starting to understand how Silver Hollow kept its secrets.

By making everyone feel watched.

---

That night, the Hollow held its monthly ritual.

They called it the "Veil Walk."

A silent gathering around the ancient stone tree at the northern edge of the valley. Wolves brought offerings-herbs, feathers, tokens of grief or hope. They stood in silence under the moon, not speaking. Not praying.

Just remembering.

Rhea didn't want to go.

But skipping it would be suspicious.

So she followed the others into the dark woods, her coat pulled tight, her hands cold.

The tree was massive-older than any structure in the Hollow. Its roots spilled over the earth like black veins. Its bark was silver-white, cracked with time. No leaves. Just bare, twisted limbs that stretched into the sky like reaching fingers.

Wolves circled it in silence.

She stood at the edge, pretending to belong.

And then-

She felt it.

A whisper. Not sound. Not thought.

A pull.

From the base of the tree.

Something... calling her.

She took one step forward, eyes locked on the stone.

Then-

"Don't."

Lucien's voice was soft but sharp.

She turned to him.

He was close. Too close. His gaze steady.

"You don't step too near the roots," he said quietly.

"Why?"

"Because not everything under this valley sleeps."

Rhea's skin went cold.

---

They walked back in silence.

The stars were faint above them. The fog had thickened.

When they reached the stone bridge again, she stopped.

"Why do you keep warning me?" she asked.

Lucien looked at her for a long time. His voice was quieter now. Not guarded. Just tired.

"Because something's wrong here. And I think you already know that."

Her throat tightened.

"I didn't come here for you," she said.

"I know."

"But I'm starting to forget why I came at all."

Lucien stepped closer. His hand almost touched hers. But he didn't take it.

He just said, "Don't lose yourself in this place, Rhea."

Then he turned and walked away.

---

She stood there alone for a long time, the wind tugging at her coat.

And far below, in the dark beyond the trees, something shifted.

Watching.

Waiting.

Awake.