He jerks his head to look at me over his shoulder with a wry expression.
I’ve touched a raw nerve and he knows it… Maybe he never thought this through, but that path he’s taking will be a wretched one.
“Is that your attempt to plead for your life? Ain’t working.”
I half-chuckle. “You think this has anything to do with me? Unlike you, I care for this pack’s members. They are my family, but to you, they are your servants.” I shrug, cutting a glance to the two guards listening in. They lower their heads and don’t meet my gaze. “Just pointing out a massive flaw in your plan.”
“This has nothing to do with you any longer, brother.” He growls. “You are my pawn until I get the girl. That’s all you are, and I don’t take advice from pawns.” A snarl hangs off his last word, and I smirk at the thought that I’ve pissed him off.
Good. Maybe my point will get through to try to save the pack from slaughter from the oncoming dangers. Except with my brother, nothing is predictable.
He charges out of the prison with the guards. I sigh and draw my bent knees to my chest, hugging my legs, wincing as the ache flares through me like someone is holding a flame to my insides.
I have every faith in the world that Bardhyl and Lucien will escape their capture. Seeing as they are not with me, I can only assume Mad has them in the other prison cells, which aren’t built as strong as this one.
Mad doesn’t really care about them… it’s me he wants to torture. Whether it’s sooner rather than later is another story. Yet Mad’s words swirl on my mind about him having Meira by the end of the day.
What does he have planned?
An urgent need grips me to break out and find her first. The desperation squeezes my lungs, hurting more than the strikes to my ribs.
I glance up at the door to the dungeon, the only way out of here. I’m too deep underground for a window escape, and I ease up to my feet. Every inch of me screams with pain. The guards left me alone down here with the other two empty cells and a rancid smell of wet earth, with the trickle of water coming through the walls from the wet ground outside. It’s been thundering endlessly since yesterday, and I grasp on to hope that this is not where it will end for me. I’ll fight to get out. Still, that thread of doubt lingers.
The main door to the dungeon room swings open, and I lift my gaze to the guards dragging someone unconscious by their arms. The man has pale blond hair, is built like a bull, and is wearing black jeans and a fitted leather jacket. They toss him into the farthest cell from me. My first thoughts leap to Bardhyl, except this man has short hair, and it has been a long time since I have seen anyone wear a leather jacket. Mostly because they’re hard to come by.
Slamming the cell door, the guards march out, and I turn my attention to the newcomer. He lies on his side, curled, unmoving.
“Hey,” I call out, but he gives no response. He’s been knocked out.
Taking a deep inhale, I sniff the guy’s scent to place him.
Strong wolf musk, perspiration, and beneath that lies his unique smell, akin to a saltiness in the sea. Who exactly is this stranger and what is he doing on our land?
What is going on out there?
I stumble toward my cell door and turn to study the main door of the room, listening for any faint voices from the guards.
Silence.
Mad is long gone, and his plan worries me.
A shiver tracks down my spine and it has nothing to do with my demise, but Meira’s safety if Mad captures her. I return to my neighbor and will work on waking him to find out what’s going on.
Bardhyl
“Get the hell up. We need to leave now!” Lucien’s voice rips right through my sleep and tears me awake.
I snap upright, my heart thundering, and I half expect attackers in our cave. Scrambling to my feet, Meira’s eyes flip open and she groans with confusion.
“What is going on?” I bark at Lucien who’s gasping for air like he’s been running.
“Mad’s men are coming up this hill. Saw them when I went out for a piss. We transform into our wolves and run from here.”
“Run where?” Meira climbs to her feet, clutching the blanket she’s wrapped around herself, her eyes darting to the cave entrance and back.
“Somewhere safe,” Lucien says, the energy in the air thickening with the electricity of his teetering change.
I’m shaking my head, panic coiling in my gut. “If they’re out here searching for us, then this is our chance to retrieve Dušan.”
“Yes.” Meira is nodding her head, stepping forward. “No more running because you two are not safe out there with the undead. So we do this now. But how far are the wolves from us?”
“At the base of the hill,” Lucien answers.
I adore my angel’s resolve, and I wrap an arm around her shoulder and drag her against me.
She glances up, her smile tight and eyes filled with trepidation, still she pushes herself up on her tippy toes and steals a quick kiss. The softness of her lips cushion against mine, but she draws away just as I turn to take her fully into my arms.
“We don’t have time for this,” Lucien reminds us, his foot tapping the stone floor.
“I know,” Meira says, her voice shaky, and she throws her arms around him, kissing him on the lips just like she had with me. “We go after Dušan,” she reiterates.
Begrudgingly, Lucien nods. “Fine, I’m outnumbered in votes, but we leave now.”
“Let’s do it.” My skin already pricks as I call my wolf forward and unleash him. He shoves past my barriers and spills out. It’s always a race for him, needing freedom, to chase, to take control. But not yet, boy.
Serrated pain carves through me as bones crack, skin splits, and I growl from the deepening ache. Just as quickly as my transformation had hit, it vanishes. I drop to the floor on all fours. Colors morph into muted hues, the world is sharper, crisper, the scent of the pines outside fresh and ripe.
A deep rumbling snarl reverberates through my chest, and I shake myself, my thick pelt fluttering. I never feel as free and ready as when I’m in my wolf body.
I twist my head toward the other two remaining in human form, chatting quietly, Lucien holding Meira around the waist.
I trot closer, feeling like I’ve missed something.
“Close your eyes,” Lucien says. “And only think of your wolf easing forward. Call her to you.”
A shiver clings to my heart. This is only her second shift, and not once had it occurred to me that she’d struggle to change. Guilt strikes me in the gut, but it’s done now, so I leap toward the cave opening to check on the intruders.
Sunlight beams brightly today, and it’s way past morning, so how long had we slept in for?
Silently, I sneak into the shadows of the woods, sliding from one tree to the next down along the sloping terrain.
I sniff the air, catching the wet fur and wolf scents on the upwind. I pause near a rock ledge on the side of the hill with a deadly sharp decline. At the base, three wolves search the area. The rain should have covered my scent, but Lucien is right. We can’t risk it.
Gradually, I ease backward, stepping out of sight before I turn and make my way back to the cave. I rush past lofty trees and jump over shrubs. My heart beats faster that we had let our guard down by sleeping in so long. Low branches swipe over me, droplets from the storm splash across my face.