Claimed by My Bully Alpha (by Anna Kendra) novel Chapter 159

Chapter 159

Caleb’s POV

I exchanged a glance with Damien, his expression mirroring my unease as we moved further down the hallway. The air was thick, oppressive, carrying the unmistakable stench of decay.

My footfalls stirred up dust from the floor, which was coated in a gritty layer of dirt and debris. I hadn’t been to this house when Aurora was still here, but the one thing I could tell was that she was the heart of this house. And now that she no longer lived here, the house seemed to be dying.

I reached out to steady myself against the wall, but immediately drew my hand back in disgust–the surface was slick with dampness, streaked with Mack mold, and dotted with cobwebs that seemed to move, as if alive.

This place just keeps getting worse,” I muttered, my voice strained. I adjusted my grip on the wall to steady myself, the darkness here had us both using our wolf’s vision. “How the hell did it get like this? It’s like no one’s been here in decades.”

Damien, walking slightly ahead of me, paused and turned. His sharp gaze flickered over the mold–covered walls before resting on me.

“You know,” he said, his tone ominous, ‘black mold isn’t normal for a human house. It implies something deeper.”

“What do you mean? It’s just mold.” I frowned.

But Damien shook his head, expression solemn. “No, black mold isn’t any kind of mold, it’s…special. Dangerous. It attracts stray spirits. It’s usually related to magic and witchcraft, and not just any magic either…dark magic.”

I let out a short, disbelieving laugh. “Stray spirits? Dark magic? Really, Damien? You’re pulling that from some old wives‘ tale. Mold doesn’t attract anything but…maybe pests.”

“No, I’m serious.” He stepped closer, lowering his voice like he was sharing some forbidden knowledge.

Mold weakens the barriers between realms. It’s like a beacon for lost souls, especially the vengeful ones. It takes a powerful kind of energy to create these molds. And if this house has history-

“Every house has history,” I interrupted, shaking my head. “That doesn’t mean every patch of mold is a gateway for angry ghosts. Come on, man, listen to yourself. It’s just rot and bad maintenance, nothing more.”

“Come on, Caleb, you can’t tell me you haven’t been on high alert ever since we entered this darn house! Something is seriously off about this place.

I shifted uneasily, my eyes darting to the shadows ahead of us. “I don’t know,” I said, my voice quieter now. “It does feel… wrong in here. Like the air’s heavier. And that smell–it’s not just the mold or the stench left behind by the body. It’s…I don’t know, I can’t place it, but it just doesn’t fit right in this place.”

“Exactly,” Damien said, his voice sharp with conviction. “This place isn’t just falling apart. It’s hostile, like it’s rejecting the very idea of us being here. You feel it too, don’t you?*

Hopened my mouth to counter him again, but the words caught in my throat as a faint sound echoed down the hallway–a soft creak, like someone shifting their weight on an old, wooden floorboard. We both froze. My eyes darted to Damien, whose whole body stiffened, as if he was waiting for something to jump out of the shadows. His expression was unreadable, but his shoulders were tense, his entire body on alert.

“Tell me that was just the house settling,” I whispered, though I didn’t sound convinced. “What else would it be? There’s no one here but us.”

Damien took a cautious step forward, his voice dropping even lower. “And whatever else the mold attracts,” he said grimly, almost to himself. “You still think this is just rot and bad maintenance?”

I didn’t answer. Not because I agreed with him, but because I couldn’t. The air around us seemed to shift, growing colder, the smell of death and decay stronger with every breath. The hallway ahead seemed darker than before, and even with our heightened vision, it felt difficult to see what was in front of us. My skepticism faltered, just for a moment. Maybe Damien wasn’t entirely wrong.

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify