Kaya
I’ve been sitting in the chair for a while now, but Camilla hasn’t spoken again. With her eyes fixed firmly on the chessboard, she looks almost surreal—calm, demure, small. So unlike the Luna I once knew.
I consider saying sothing, anything, to puncture the thick tension that’s been pressing in around us, but I don’t need to. With a sharp, sudden inhale, she finally lifts her eyes to mine and exhales in a weary sigh.
"It’s a drug," she murmurs, leaning forward slightly, as though urging to take a closer look at her. "It makes you slow... and a bit stupid."
I nod, even though I’ve already pieced it together myself. My wolf is suppressed—aconite runs through my veins—and the heavy fog clouding my head can only an more toxins in my system.
"How long have you been here? And... why?"
Silence again––I don’t think she wants to talk about this, and I kind of get why.
"Are you going to make the first move or not?"
"Excuse ?" The words slip out before I can stop them, startled and oddly confused, the drugs making feel sluggish, almost dim-witted. My eyes flick down to my side of the board, and that’s when I notice: my pieces are white. The ga has already begun. I am expected to move first.
It takes a few monts to decide which piece to shift, and when I finally do, I look back at Camilla. She’s still watching , her face unreadable, her expression flat—almost bored.
"I’ve been waiting for soone to co here, you know." Her voice is weak, but the silence around us makes it sound louder. "I don’t want to go out again."
Sothing in that quiet confession sets on edge. My heart gives a faint lurch, and before I can stop myself, I voice the question that’s been gnawing at ever since I learned I could leave my room.
"Why are we allowed to leave our rooms?"
Camilla lets out a chuckle, though it carries no warmth, no trace of amusent. "We are on a leash," she says, tapping her finger against her neck. That’s when I notice it: the air shimring faintly around her skin, catching the light with a tallic gleam before vanishing again. "It might be invisible, but it’s still there."
Instinctively, I mirror her gesture, fingers brushing against my own throat—and my eyes widen. There it is, sothing unseen tightening like a phantom collar around my neck. "Shock collar?"
Camilla nods, and a wave of sorrow presses down on . Even soone as powerful, as untouchable, as Luna Camilla is on a leash now.
"The first ti I stepped outside this room, I felt it," she continues, her gaze lowering back to the chessboard, her voice steady yet sharp. "The beauty of it hit so hard I nearly pissed myself. Took a long while to shake it off... and I’ve never left since. Not that I need to." Her lips twist faintly, though her eyes stay fixed on the ga. "I already know what this place is."
"You do?" My brows shoot up, a flicker of hope sparking in my chest despite myself. "What is this place?"
She doesn’t answer imdiately, her attention seemingly locked on the pieces in front of her. Only when her trembling fingers close around a pawn does she glance back at .
"It’s a tunnel," she murmurs at last. "A passage between Dark Wood and Golden Lake. That’s why Damien wanted formal rights to Arcanis’s pack—he needed this place to stay hidden."
"I don’t understand." The words tumble out of . "Why would he need a tunnel if his plan was already to take Golden Lake? With the land under his control, Damien could cross between the packs freely."
"Well," Camilla’s lips curl into a smug grin as she leans back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest. "Isn’t it funny? Damien’s favorite—the one he preferred above —doesn’t even know what that bastard was really about."
Her words are ant to sting, but I can’t deny them. I never knew what he was about. I never knew him at all.
So I hold my tongue, letting Camilla savor this small victory over . She basks in it for a mont, and when the satisfaction has run its course, her grin softens into sothing less sharp.
"The tunnel isn’t for moving across the packs," she begins, "It’s for storing. When Damien left to handle business in Golden Lake, I went through his study. I found the blueprints—my leverage. I planned to threaten him with them if he refused to grant a divorce."
The more she speaks, the heavier my confusion grows. Maybe it’s the drugs still dragging at my body, but not entirely. It’s just too much—too many truths unraveling all at once. So many things I want to ask, yet part of recoils from the answers.
"I tried to access the tunnel before, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t find the entrance. It wasn’t until I was dragged here against my will that I realized the truth—it’s hidden by magic. The witch in your room... it’s her doing."
Once again, I have nothing to say. The new information struggles to sink in, and at so point, I catch myself making an actual, palpable effort to stay focused.
"There are three levels in this tunnel," Camilla continues, perhaps ignoring my strained look. "The first level is the lab––Goddess knows what’s happening there, but I’m sure it’s for more than just mixing potions and powders.
The third level is for transportation. Once again, I have no fucking idea what he’s using it for, but sotis I hear quite a loud rumbling above the ceiling, which leads to believe it’s sothing heavy."
"So this ans," I start carefully, "this is the second floor."
Camilla nods again. "Yeah. It’s for storing."
"Storing?" Confusion sparks again, my attention suddenly becoming sharper. "What is he storing here?"
"I don’t know," she shakes her head with a look of disappointnt in her eyes. "The rest of the doors are locked. Yours was too before I learned that you had been placed there. But..."
She pauses, dark eyes scanning for a reaction, but I am dumb with stupor. Camilla leans in closer, her voice dropping lower, quieter as she continues, "Do you rember when the first report of a missing female was announced?"
I blink a few tis, stunned, pushing my brain to clear the fog and rember the past. Yes, I guess I do rember that. The first female wolf, allegedly abducted. And it was...
"Nine years ago."
"I don’t think Damien got lucky with my pack," Camilla smirks, her expression darkening. "I think we’ve t the devil in him."
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