Shadowlands Sector, Three

by Mila Young

  I hear Jae sniffing the air then she glances back over her shoulder, down at me. "Meira is that you?"

  My snarl is the only response as I wrestle with the rope.

  "Please hurry, they’re really close," she cries, making whimpering sounds. I inhale her perspiration and fear.

  I wrench at the rope and my teeth bite right through it, releasing it.

  She's quick to pull free and toss the bonds aside, then swings toward me. "Let’s get out of here!"

  And I freeze at first, unsure where to take her. Behind her, half a dozen zombies have noticed the commotion and are coming over.

  It doesn't take long for the bastards. They are like the sharks of the land. Smell of blood or any sound that sounds like trouble and they appear to investigate. Just in case it's a meal.

  "Meira," Jae calls out and is running in the opposite direction to the compound and away from the zombies.

  I want to scream after her that we must get closer to the pack. There are snipers on the gate that will shoot the creatures on site. But all that comes out is a guttural growl.

  Because I'm a wolf, and it's only now that it hits me, I don't know how to transform back into a human.

  A Shadow Monster slips right past me and runs after Jae.

  I lunge after the fiend, crash tackling it, bringing it to the ground. It bucks against me, not staying still, never staying down. Fury billows inside me as three others already pass me.

  Jae is bouncing deeper into the woods.

  Having had enough, I bite down into the back of its neck. It has a massive, healed scar across his bald head which looks painful, if this man was alive. Something suddenly cracks in its body. Please let that slow it down. I don't wait to find out and sprint after the girl.

  Putrid blood taints my tongue, and panic flares that I’d made a terrible mistake. Taking their blood into my body might tip me into becoming one of them or… I don’t really know because these creatures ignore me like I am still immune. But the notion still freaks me out. Nothing about what’s going on with me follows any rules.

  Seconds pass and nothing happens to me. No change or urgent need to kill the living. But I don’t have time for this. Not now.

  I'm running after Jae, attacking the next three zombies, biting deep into their sides and legs to cause damage, to toss them aside. Anything to slow them down. They don’t even react, it’s as if I’m invisible to them.

  I lose sight of Jae, and I look left and right, I sniff the air to catch her faint scent—powdery and earthy.

  In seconds, I am on her heels again. She screams at my approach, until she looks back to see it's only me. “I really hope that is Meira inside there,” she says nervously.

  Glancing behind me, she realizes we've left the creatures way behind us.

  She pauses, resting against a tree, breathing fast.

  I inhale raspy breaths, then my tongue dangles out, and more than anything, I need to transform back. Looking up at Jae, she stares at me, tilting her head.

  Making a whiny sound, I sit in front of her, unsure how to communicate that I'm stuck.

  "Why aren't you changing?" she asks, worry coating her words. "I don't really know this area too well, but there are caves farther up the hill behind me I passed days ago. We can go hide there?" She's breathing heavy and talking quickly.

  I nudge my head against her thigh, then start moving toward the mountain so she knows I agree with her plan. Another glance behind us and no sign of the undead following. My attention sweeps over in the direction of the compound, where I want to be heading, not away from it.

  But first, I need to get Jae out of harm's way.

  She steps up alongside me and we're marching through the shadowy woods. She’s talking, but I’m not listening at first. Instead, I scan the woods, smell scents, listen for sounds. Then I look up at Jae.

  "Meira, please don't tell me you don't know how to change back from wolf form. I once heard of a wolf who got trapped and stayed in her animal form her whole life."

  My heart jackhammers at her words. Is she serious? I don't hear another word she says when panic replaces everything else I feel with a dreadful sinking feeling.

  I can’t be stuck in my wolf form. Please, no!

  Chapter 2

  Dušan

  A hard fist connects to my back, driving me into the dingy prison cell. Fire burns through my veins as I whip back around to the door made of iron bars slamming shut with a thunderous clang, locking me inside.

  The whole room feels like it tilts on its axis, the dark stone walls, the floor covered in dirt and stinking of urine, and I stumble, crashing into the wall, losing my balance. Whatever the fuck they injected into me knocked me out cold. Even when I came to, moments before reaching the cell, I could barely stand, let alone think straight.

  I shake my head to clear the fog in my mind. When I glance up, I meet Mad’s gaze. He leans against the wall outside my cell in a wide stance, hands deep in his pockets. Shadows gather under his eyes and his mouth splits into a smirk, revealing yellowed teeth.

  There’s no sign of Lucien or Bardhyl, and only when I look around do I note I’m in the deepest prison, my underground prison. I have two floors of cells since I also use them to help Ash Wolves struggling on full moons. I once put Mad in here when his wolf had lost control on a blue moon. And now the bastard stuck me in here as a lesson, as torment, I have no doubt.

  “You asshole!” A growl rolls over my throat as I push myself to stand upright. Every inch of me hurts while my thoughts lock on Meira and the last time I saw her. Mad’s wolves injected her, then she experienced her first transformation. My fists curl and I want to slam Mad’s head into the wall for touching her. I don’t even know if she survived the change, and the thought brings a stabbing pain deep in my chest. I might have lost her.

  I have to believe she’s alive, or why else would my asshole stepbrother be in here alone? Hell, he’d bring her carcass to haunt me if she were dead. My pulse ices over at the thought.

  I promised to be there for Meira, but I let her down at the one time she needed me the most. All because of the weasel I’m going to murder. He betrayed me, and I should never have left him alone in the prison. Of course, he had allies to break him out… I fucking hate hindsight, but would I change things if I had my time over? Not if it meant not finding Meira.

  Rage collides into me, and I roar more like a lion than a wolf at how fucked-up everything turned out.

  I lunge forward, shaking the bars. “Let me the hell out!” I bellow.

  “Brother, why would I do that?”

  I spit on the floor between us. “You are not my real brother, but you are everything like your father.”

  His expression twists in a flash from a calm demeanor to a raging bull. He bursts toward me, nostrils flaring. His ice-blue eyes narrow, while his white hair sits wildly around his face. I want him fuming so he makes a mistake, comes in for me. Desperation for a savage fight rattles through me, and my sights are set on the wolf I should have eliminated long ago. I should have listened to Lucien and Bardhyl. But that’s not a miscalculation I’ll make again.

  Mad stops just out of reach from me, strangely in control for someone who rarely thought before he acted. His entire body trembles, and he inhales heavily, the struggle to hold back clear. He stands as broad as me, but runs from most fights. So I poke the bear.

  “Father betrayed us, hated us, beat us. You loathed him for what he did, and yet you became the monster you feared as a child.”

  “You’re a fucking weak leader,” he spits. “Father was right about that, it seems.” He cracks his neck and lifts his chin. “Your pack is crying out for a solution to the undead, but instead, you play trading games with a damn Alpha who has a cure for his members. You’re a laughing stock, and I’m no longer sitting back and letting you kill everyone here as those abominations break into my compound again.”

  I clench my teeth, grinding my back molars, but I refuse to let him get to me. He’s
a liar. The relations I have with other Alphas like Ander in X-Clan is the way of the future. Not stealing or bringing war to our doorstep from deceit.

  “You’re a fool.” I growl. “Ander’s serum is not a solution for us. It’s tailormade for their race of wolves. You risked everything by—”

  “And I’d risk it all again to save this pack!” he shouts.

  I huff. “You mean to save yourself.”

  A guttural snarl reverberates from his chest. “Your time is over, brother. I’ve been your lackey long enough. Now it’s time to show you how a real pack is run. And that little slut of yours will spread her legs for me, and her blood will help me bring immunity to the pack… my pack!” He slams a fist against his chest, his head high, so fucking proud of himself.

  All I can think about is ripping out his throat, my hands curling into balls. If there’s one bright light to come out of this asshole’s mouth, it’s his admittance that Meira is alive. That sliver of hope floods me with the determination to never stop fighting.

  “So, you have what you want, what the fuck do you want with me?” I snap, needing to know his motivation and understand how long I have to escape before my time is up. Mad does everything for a reason that benefits him.

  I’m under no illusion that Mad will finish me. He knows as well as I do that I will never just stand by and watch him take my pack from me.

  He bursts into maniacal laughter and begins to stroll toward the exit door. “How else do you think I’m going to claim your wolf girl?”

  Sonofabitch! I’m his bait.

  Meira slipped away from him, and now he’s hoping she will come back for me so he can trap her.

  For the love of all things, I pray to the moon goddess that Meira runs as far from this place as possible. If I escape, I’ll find her even if I have to search the entire world. For once, I hope she runs.

  LUCIEN

  “That fucktard, lying, wankface cockroach,” Bardhyl murmurs under his breath as he paces back and forth in our small prison. Pale blond hair flutters over his broad shoulders, his vivid green eyes narrowing as he scowls. He’s a damn huge bear of a wolf, a Viking who’s eager to fight.

  My head still hurts from whatever the hell was jammed into me with the syringe, and now we were brought back into the compound to be tossed in the dungeon.

  Jolting, I sit upright, my head spinning, and I scan the filthy cell, the barred walls revealing that the other three prisons are empty. We’re down here alone. “Where’re Dušan and Meira?”

  “No idea. But we’re going to break out of here and find them.” He pauses in front of me as I climb to my feet.

  “It’s close to impossible to get out of here. We made sure of that.” The window isn’t in our cell, and we’ve had these bars and locks secured to resist a wild werewolf’s attack.

  “We will with sheer brute force.” Bardhyl growls with each rapid breath he takes, clearly not thinking straight.

  I rub the side of my neck, where I feel the lump from the injection. Mad’s ambush came so fast… the bastards must have seen us coming and we walked right into their ambush. Fuck! I cross the prison, a mere three paces, and stare out into the dark hallway, finding the door into this basement shut. There’s no sign of a guard watching us, and keys are never kept down here for obvious safety reasons.

  “With brute force! Didn’t you hear me?” Bardhyl stomps toward me.

  “No need to repeat yourself. I ignored you just fine the first time. You know as well as I do these dungeons are unbreakable.”

  He snarls, and I glance over to him as he punches the brick wall. The dull thump that comes with it must hurt, but it doesn’t stop him.

  “Hold on to your anger. Maybe there is a way to break out.”

  Bardhyl snaps his attention my way. “I’m listening.”

  “The door hinges on the prison cell are the weakest point. When we had these made, we had several that kept easily snapping off. So if we’re lucky, maybe one of these has a weak point.”

  Bardhyl huffs, squaring his shoulders. “Well, this I can do. I’m the master at breaking things.” He marches over to the door, and I track alongside him.

  Unease simmers in my gut about where exactly Meira is. I keep telling myself she’s with Dušan, but something tells me that’s too easy and we need to find her urgently. When Mad is involved, the worst-case scenario is most likely.

  I curl my hands into fists at the possibility of what he’d do to her and shake my head, my muscles tense. I already lost my first mate… And I never imagined finding someone else to love, to connect with my wolf, but Meira is that and so much more. My heart squeezes as my throat thickens.

  She can’t be dead. I’ll die before I go through losing her.

  Chapter 3

  Meira

  I straddle two worlds. The human side that comes from my father, and the wolf from my mama. I grew up being told I’d never truly belong anywhere as long as my wolf refused to show. But now that she has, I don’t know how to return to my human form, so what am I supposed to do now? Go hang around in the wilderness with actual wild wolves? I half-sob, half-snicker at the notion.

  How in the world am I meant to be with Dušan, Lucien, and Bardhyl? I’ve been a human for so long that it’s all I know, and I kinda liked it. Now, I pace back and forth in the cave up in the mountain, my paws moving swiftly over the stone floor. In a strange way, it almost feels like I’m flying at how fast and easy the movement comes.

  A hawk screeches in the distance, and I turn my attention out of the cave’s entrance where storm clouds roll over the sky, and a rumble bellows somewhere over the land. Miles of treetops swing back and forth in the rising wind. Dušan’s compound lies behind this mountain, and my insides churn every time I think about him and my other two captured men. I want to believe Mad won’t hurt them, but I don’t trust a single thing about the bastard. I want to rip him to shreds.

  “Come over here,” Jae says in her soft voice, pulling me from my thoughts. I find her kneeling by the small fire. “I’m going to help you change. You saved me. Now it’s my turn to repay the favor.”

  I startle, staring at this young girl, maybe thirteen or fourteen years old, taking the lead to save me. Her round face glows red from the fire and she has lots of freckles over her nose and cheeks. Her short, dark hair sits messily, and everything about her looks adorable. Even the jeans two sizes too big for her and cinched in by a belt, not to mention her T-shirt with a penguin riding a sleigh on it.

  I trot over and flop down on my belly, legs bent under me, but it feels uncomfortable, so I shift and awkwardly stretch my front legs out in front of me. Ah, that’s slightly better. Heat from the flames embrace me, and a wave of exhaustion comes over me.

  “Relax,” Jae says to me. “My sister, Narah, taught me how to change back when I first transformed a couple of years ago. It’s as easy as exhaling, but you need to be calm.”

  Speaking and doing are two very different things. I look up at her and groan with a rushed breath.

  She reaches over and strokes the top of my head with her small hand. The impression snakes down my back with the most soothing sensation I’ve ever experienced, and my eyelids are fluttering with the need to close them.

  “There are places in this world that are riddled with secrets and danger,” she explains. “But one thing for certain is that our wolves will always be there, and that we have control of our animal side. Think of all the things you experienced in your life up till now, and how afterward, you became a slightly different person. Every day changes you.”

  I study Jae, who now sits with her legs crossed in front of me. Her words are profound and deep for someone so young, and I’m guessing she is parroting what her sister told her. Maybe one day I’ll get to meet her sibling, as she sounds wise.

  Jae’s fingers scratch over my ears delicately, and my eyes close. “You are in control. Call your wolf inside you.”

  A gentle ripple skims through me, the warmth from the fire s
oothing me with its sputtering sounds, and I’m half-falling asleep from Jae’s soft petting. A single thought of my wolf retreating crosses my mind, and a sudden sweep of fur brushing against my insides begins.

  My mind turns over to memories of going apple picking with Mama as a child, my breaths heavy. And then darkness sweeps over me.

  “Meira, are you hungry?” a soft female voice asks, then someone shakes me harshly by the shoulder.

  In a heartbeat, my memories roll over me like a truck, and I flip open my eyes to Jae’s face. She’s looking down at me, chewing on something, and the smell of grilled meat has me salivating.

  “What are you eating?” I say, the words out loud. I’m human. With a gasp, I lift my hands to see they are in fact hands. No fur or claws or anything animal-like. “Oh, hell yes, I’m back to being me.” I get up quickly, staring down at my naked body, cut and bruised, but I changed. It didn’t seem too hard to do, though it put me to sleep, so hopefully, that’s not a common side effect.

  “Thank you so much.” I glance over to Jae as she bites into the small drumstick, her chin greasy from the meal. The fire spits and crackles from the two rabbit rotisseries sitting over the flame, and I’m starving.

  But my thoughts swivel to my three mates captured by Mad. Behind me, rain drizzles over the land, the sunlight cowering behind the heavy clouds staining the sky.

  “I have clothes for you. Come eat before rushing out there,” Jae says, smacking her lips.

  I follow her pointed finger to the wall across from the fire, where a pile of clothes waits for me. “Where did you find them?”

  “At the back of the cave. Told you I was here before, and one thing my eldest sister taught me was that everywhere I stay, I leave a small survival pack.”

  Dragging on the baggy pants, I pull at the corded string so they don’t fall off me, then reach for the black T-shirt. “She sounds smart. You never know when you might be back at a cave. Case in point here.”