Chapter 4: The Vault Beneath

The silver chains had burned through two layers of Jasmina’s skin by the time Theo came back.

Jasmina barely looked up when his footsteps echoed down the corridor. Her wrists were raw meat now, weeping with blood.

Her wolf was completely silent. The baby inside her felt smaller and weaker somehow.

She had maybe three days left before the silver killed her child and make her wolfless.

"I know what she's planning," Theo said, breathing hard like he'd been running. He shoved a torn page through the bars, they had ancient text, barely readable.

Jasmina tried to focus on the words but they blurred together. "I can't…"

"The Lycan Vault," Theo interrupted. "It's real. It's directly under the packhouse, sealed fifty feet below the main hall."

That got her attention. She blinked until the page came into focus. The text was old, written in a dialect she could barely understand, but certain phrases jumped out: *weapon of bloodline control*, *sealed by ancient kings*, *forbidden power*.

"What does thisnn be mean?" she asked.

"Everything." Theo pointed to a passage near the middle. "Whoever opens that vault gains complete control over werewolf bloodlines. They can command any wolf to obey. They can kill entire packs without touching them. They can break mate bonds, create new ones, and even rewrite pack hierarchies."

Jasmina shook her head. "You already said that yesterday, and you also kept me on suspense."

"Ok, let me explain.” Theo started calmly. ”Lycan Kings built it three thousand years ago as a failsafe. If werewolves ever went to war with each other, whoever held the vault could force peace." Theo's expression was grim. "But the kings realized it was too dangerous. So they sealed it with a ritual that required three specific things to open."

"Luna's blood. Alpha's death. And an unborn heir." Theo and Jasmina said at same time as they met each other’s eyes.

"The heir has to be alive. Growing. The vault feeds on new life to break the seal." Theo continued.

Jasmina pressed her hand against her stomach. "Arlene will never get my child."

Theo crouched closer to the bars. "But that’s her plan, and we need to stop her." Theo's jaw clenched. "For now Damoew isn’t fully dead.”

“What do you mean? You said something like that before but I didn’t understand. Why am I here if the alpha is alive?” Jasmina asked breathlessly.

Theo breath out. “She can’t open the vault if the alpha is dead. And she can’t risk you running away. So she did a ritual that put the alpha in a dead state to all eyes but his soul is still close by, then she framed you for it to make sure you are still with the baby. So before she does the pregnancy transfer to her body, she wants to make sure that every other things are ready. Then she will invoke Damoew's soul back to his body and start the vault opening spell."

Jasmina felt sick. "When will she try taking my pregnancy?"

"Any time from now or she might have done it already, due to the silver chains on you. She knows the child might die." Theo pulled out another page, this one with a diagram. "There's a chamber directly below the throne room. That's where the ritual happens. She needs your blood, Damoew's body, and the baby inside her."

"I can still feel my child." Jasmina slowly said.

"Good. The transfer spell takes three days to complete," Theo continued. "She has to start it by day ten, or she won't finish in time. That gives us three days."

"Three days to do what?"

"Escape. Find help or stop her." Theo stood. "I found the old smuggler tunnels. The ones that run from the dungeon to the Outcast Lands. They've been sealed for decades, but I can break through."

Jasmina tried to stand but her legs wouldn't support her weight. The silver had drained too much strength. "I can't even walk."

"You will." Theo reached through the bars and grabbed her arm, his touch careful around the burns. "Listen to me. Your baby is the only thing keeping you alive right now. Arlene needs you breathing until she's ready to do the transfer. That means she won't let Jetstar execute you early."

"She'll just take the baby and let me die."

"Probably." Theo's grip tightened. "But we're not going to let that happen. Tomorrow night, I'm getting you out of here. There's someone in the Outcast Lands who can help."

"Who?"

"I don't know yet. But the outcasts hate Damoew. He banished half of them for no reason. They'll want revenge." Theo released her arm. "Can you hold on one more day?"

Jasmina looked down at the silver chains. One more day meant one more day of burning. One more day of her baby getting weaker. One more day closer to Arlene stealing everything.

But it also meant one more day of being alive.

"Yes," she said.

Theo smiled. "Good. Because I also found something else in the archives. Something Arlene doesn't know about."

"What?"

"The vault has a failsafe. If someone tries to open it with stolen blood or a stolen heir, the entire chamber collapses. Everyone inside dies." Theo's eyes glinted. "The magic knows. It can tell if the Luna's claim is legitimate or false."

"So if Arlene uses my baby…"

"The vault will reject her. And the r ritual will fail. And she'll be trapped underground when the ceiling comes down." Theo straightened. "But we need to make sure she actually tries it. If we stop her too early, she'll just wait and try again later. We need to let her think she's winning."

Jasmina's mind raced despite the exhaustion. "You want to use me as bait."

"I want to use your baby as bait," Theo softly said. "Arlene won't start the transfer spell until she's sure everything else is in place. That means we have time to move. Time to plan."

"And if something goes wrong?"

"Then we're all dead anyway." Theo started walking away. "Get some rest. Tomorrow night, we run."