Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 456

Chapter 456

“Let’s switch,” he said. “Just to be safe.”

My heart stopped. “What?”

“I’ve been poisoned before, my love. I’ve learned to be cautious.” His red eyes gleamed. “You don’t mind, do you?”

I stared at the cup in his hand. The one I’d poisoned. If I refused, he’d know. He’d realize what I’d done.

“Of course not,” I said. I took the cup from him, my hands trembling.

He raised his cup. “To our future.”

I brought the cup to my lips and took a sip.

Andrei’s POV

The cave entrance looked like a gaping maw in the mountainside. Dark and endless, swallowing everything that entered, even the light.

I stood there for a moment, staring into it. Then I shifted back to my human form, grabbed the torch I’d brought, and stepped inside.

The tunnel was narrow at first, but it widened as I went deeper. The walls were smooth; they must have been carved by ancient lava flows. My footsteps echoed in the silence.

I walked for what felt like hours. The tunnel twisted and turned, sloping downward. The air grew warmer the deeper I went, and a faint smell hung in the air–something sharp and acrid that made my eyes water.

Sulphur? Or something else? Whatever it was, it was strange and made my wolf whine uncomfortable. But I kept moving. I had to find him. The King. If he was alive, he was down here somewhere. And when I found him, I was going to kill him.

“Andrei.”

I froze. That voice-

“Damon?” I turned, holding up the torch. But there was nothing behind me. Just an empty tunnel.

“Keep going,” the voice said. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. “Don’t stop.”

“Damon, is that you?” My voice cracked. “Where are you?”

There was no answer.

I shook my head. I was hearing things. The grief, the exhaustion, the endless tunnels–it was playing tricks on my mind. Damon was dead. He wasn’t here.

But I kept hearing him. His voice echoed through the tunnels, urging me forward. And sometimes, I swore I saw him. Just glimpses–a shadow moving in the corner of my vision, a figure standing at the end of a passage.

COMBA

“This way,” Damon’s voice said. “Horry.”

I followed it. Logically, I knew it wasn’t real, but I couldn’t stop myself the wire me te only tingene moving, keeping me from collapsing right there in the darkness.

The tunnel eventually opened into a wider passage. Then another. The air gesinter adindan became stronger. My head started to feel fazzy, like someone had stuffed canon in my dealt Continentes stumble onward.

“Almost there,” Damon said. His voice was fainter now. “Just a little further

I staggered onward on unsteady legs that kept giving out beneath me, making me slam into the time wells ar one point, I fell and dropped my torch directly into a puddle of acid smelling water. The nach went out antie hiss. I couldn’t see shit, and yet… I kept moving

I felt my way along the passage, palpating my hands across smooth, damy stone. Eventually the ane changed. No longer cave walls formed by ancient magma, but was that Bricks?

And then, finally, the passage widened. I stumbled into an enormous chamber that was larger than anyon so far. Ahead, I could make out walls made of dark stone. Carved doorways

It was a palace, hidden deep within the mountain. I could barely make it out in the darkness, but I could all sense it there, looming over me.

“Natalia,” I whispered as I stared up at the dark, impossible shape above me. She had to be here. She hat

I took a step toward the entrance. Then another. But my legs gave out before I could reach the door. My body felt heavy, limbs weak. My head was fuzzy, and I felt like I might retch. I tried to catch myself, but I couldn’t I collapsed onto the cold stone floor and couldn’t seem to push myself back up.

My vision began to blur, making the palace swim before me like a mirage. I thought I saw figures moving un me, voices, fingers reaching for me from the shadows.

“Natalia,” I whispered, reaching a trembling hand forward. Her name was the last thing on my lips before the darkness took me.

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