by Mila Young
I stumble into the woods from where more emerge, and I want to kiss them for just saving my ass.
All right, that’s a bit much. I will never lay my lips on these disgusting things. Freeing myself from the tangle of putrid bodies, elbowing and thrusting past me, I search for the wolves.
Growls flitter somewhere in the distance. I start making my way up the hill from within the woods. The back entry into the settlement is my goal.
A bloodcurdling cry shatters the silence, and I quiver, missing a step.
I keep going up the hill but can’t stop looking back to where a wolf is engulfed by the creatures, while the three other wolves lunge at the monsters.
Bang. Bang.
The shots start again, and the war I’ve unleashed is in full throttle.
I can’t think about anything but using this time to get inside the compound. I planned a distraction, and fuck, I got one hell of a commotion.
Running up the hill, my thighs ache, as do my lungs. I grab on to low-hanging trees to pull myself up over the steeper sections. My feet keep slipping out from under me, and my heart beats like it’s intending to burst out of my ribcage.
I look back and catch enough of a glimpse of the battle, but if the wolves survived, it’s too difficult to tell.
Farther behind me, there are three or four Shadow Monsters following me… hard to tell how many in truth with the shadows and rain. They aren’t moving in a mad rush for food at me, either, which makes me think they are confused. The rain washes away scents easily, I guess.
The battle grows in the background as I make my way swiftly to the rear of the compound.
I stop for a moment and steady my racing heart as I suck in shaky breaths.
Thunder cracks overhead, the trees whipping in every direction around me, the wind pushing against me when I finally emerge from the woods into a clearing at the back of the settlement. I’m huffing and puffing. I need a few seconds to just calm down or speaking with the guard will be impossible when I attempt to convince him to let me in.
The mental pictures of my three wolves hurt and on death’s door pushes me to keep going. Chills flare over my skin while bile rises in my throat that I might lose any of them. I almost want to laugh at how easily I call them ‘my wolves’ when there is still so much I want to learn about them.
But it sure as hell isn’t going to happen if I’m daydreaming about them, either.
I race alongside the fence, for any kind of protection from the ravenous weather beating into me. Ten feet away, the narrow gate comes into view, and when I look up, the guard from earlier is gone.
Crap. I run my hand over my face in the rain, but it’s useless as more water is coating me, yet I can’t stop doing it.
Standing around won’t help me get this done fast.
I hurry toward the gate, my gaze constantly drifting higher along the fence in case a guard pops up and mistakes me for an undead. Panic makes anyone trigger happy.
The gate is made of solid metal with no windows, and I knock on it, then instantly feel stupid. I doubt anyone can hear it, so I call out, “Hello!”
Again nothing.
Have the guards all gone to the other side? Which is a good thing, right? So I press down on the handle of the door, which of course doesn’t open. I frantically glance around for a solution, for anything, when I find an oversized fallen branch as thick as my leg.
Looking back up, I see there are still no guards on the stone posts along the metal fence.
Desperately, I lunge toward the branch and haul it closer. There’s a wooden platform over the gate entrance where I saw the soldiers stand guard earlier, so I need to get up there.
With quivering arms, I lift one end of my new ladder and carry it closer, then drop it up against the wall. It comes to about chest height. It needs to be higher, so I leave it there and rush to the other end.
I might end up pulling a muscle, but I don’t care right now. I crouch down and lift the thick branch and shove it forward, inching forward with my steps. The tip slides up against the wall until it hits the lip of the fence across the top. Rain pelts down, stray leaves thrown into me, and this timber is unsteady as hell. But I have to make it work.
Searching around me, I find several rocks about the size of a huddled fox, and I collect one. Tucking it at the base of the branch to keep it wedged in, I’m partly terrified of my contraption.
But the wood is thick enough and damn heavy, so I put my foot on it, bouncing it. Suddenly, the tip slips sideways from the pressure, making a scratching sound against the metal. Hell, this is going to fail miserably. Stepping back, I take in a deep breath, shake my arms, and just run. No overthinking this.
My first step is solid, my balance strong, and I press forward, my arms jutted out on either side of me in my crazed climb.
The branch suddenly dips out from under me, throwing me sideways and to the ground. I swallow my scream as my stomach lurches and I hit the ground hard with my hip and shoulder. Muddy water splashes me, and I groan from the dull ache pulsing down my back.
Sonofabitch.
Getting back up, I study the branch, which is wedged in where the door and frame marry. At least it’s held in place. Up on my feet, I try again and again, and by the fourth time, bruised and battered from falling, I’m burning up with fury that this damn thing won’t work.
I rush at it once more, reaching halfway up, farther than I’d achieved previously when the flex in the branch starts to bend from my weight. Adrenaline driven, on my next step, I throw myself forward and madly snatch the top of the fence. Gasping for air, I dangle from there for a few moments.
My entire body shakes, muscles screaming with pain.
I need to get over the damn thing, I have to. I lever one leg up against the branch and push myself up. Then I throw a leg over the top of the lofty fence, straining to pull my body to follow, my heart pounding from exhaustion. I roll onto the wooden platform and lie there for two seconds to just breathe because I can’t believe I made it. I want to laugh at the craziness I’ve just gone through, but that will have to wait.
Getting back up, I find I’m definitely alone. Finally, something is going right for me.
Several howls come from much farther away, and from my vantage point over the tops of the trees, the whole territory comes into view. The land sloping downward to the castle-like structure, the pack members running down to the front gate, the houses where pack members live.
Hurrying, I rush toward the wooden ladder leaning against the platform and scurry down. At the base, I search for anyone, but it’s quiet.
So I slip right into the cluster of trees and sprint to the castle, my feet slapping the wet ground with each hurried step.
There’s movement to my right, and before I even look around, I dive behind a tree, then look out. A man is marching to the rear gate I just climbed over. Adrenaline rises faster and my brain is firing off panic like a shotgun. That I’ll be caught, that I’ll cause my Alphas’ death, that this was the wrong move.
I wait. Just calm the shit down. I’ve got this.
My skin feels like it’s on fire even when I’m being rained on. I shake like a leaf as I glance out from my hiding location to where the figure disappears somewhere near the back fence.
Then reality punches me in the gut. The branch I used to climb over the fence! Shit! I left it propped up against the door. Idiot!
Terror seems to swell in every cell in my body as dread grips me. So I do the only thing I can… I lunge toward the Alphas’ home.
The woods blur past me, and I follow the path Lucien showed me last time he and I were up here. We had sex, mind you, out in public, and it was ridiculously alluring. A moment forever imprinted on my mind. One of the many times that Lucien made me fall for him and so hard. Just thinking about him has my heart clenching. And this is why I’m running and need to save him and the others before it’s too late.
Reaching the side entrance to the castle, I press my back to the ston
e wall, frantically looking in every direction. Just then, someone bursts out of the doorway and looks in the opposite direction from me, missing me completely just standing feet from him. He bursts into a sprint toward the front gates.
I’m plastered to the wall, petrified he’ll turn around, but he never does as he vanishes around the building.
Gunshots ring in the air, popping, one after another. Someone’s shouting; others are yelling. Must be from the guards.
A dinging bell rings from the direction of the back fence. I cringe. The guard must have discovered my branch. Well, that didn’t take long.
Quickly, I slide into the building and pray with everything I have that I don’t bump into anyone. I recall someone mentioning prisons in this building, and from what I’ve read, cells are always in the basement of castles.
No time to waste, I hurry down a quiet corridor with dark stone walls and the torches on the walls flickering. The wind howls savagely in here, my skin suddenly icy cold. I’m heading to the large set of stairs I remember in this fortress going underground. My head swims with so many doubts that every move I make might be wrong and my undoing.
Voices come from up ahead, and I shudder. Terrified, I lash out toward the first door I find and shove it open. I dart inside, my pulse banging in my ears. It’s someone’s chamber, judging by the messy bed and table with a jug and cups. I also spot a blade inside a sheath on a belt, so I sprint over and snatch the weapon, just in case.
Back at the entrance, I press my ear against the wooden door and listen as I wrap the belt around my waist, the blade at my hip. It’s super large and even in the final belt hole, there’s a bit of wiggle room, but it will have to do. For those few moments, I try to calm my raging pulse. I’ve been going non-stop and I might pass out. I remind myself I can’t afford to make any mistakes.
Loud footfalls pass like whoever’s out there is running, and I don’t leave the room until I’m certain they are definitely gone.
Stepping into the corridor, I swing my gaze left and right, and with no one there, I move with haste to the stairwell farther ahead. The hairs on my nape shift, and my brain is on overdrive.
I rush downstairs and arrive at a door. The stairs curve around and lead farther down. Is this the basement? Because it smells rank enough that it could be? Then what is on the next floor down. I’m chewing on my lower lip over what to do but find myself drifting to the door and listening for any sounds.
Quietly, I open it and in front of me are a set of prison cells. Both are empty, so I stick my head inside to check out the rest of the room.
“What are you doing here?!” a male’s voice snaps behind me.
I flinch around, my nerves shot.
A huge guard with wet hair and clothes clinging to him like he’s just run in from outside is thundering down the steps toward me. He has a hooked nose, and I’ve seen him amid the wolves fighting alongside Mad in the woods. Fuck, why did it have to be him of all people coming down here?
His eyes grow as he really sees me… recognizes me.
Shaking, I stumble backward into the nearest cell and trip over my feet, falling over. I recoil on my ass as he marches right up to me, hands curling into fists, his jawline clenching.
“Meira!” a familiar voice calls me from within the room, and I swing my head to the left and lay eyes on Lucien and Bardhyl inside the cell at the end of the row. They’re gripping the metal bars, appearing just as shocked as I feel. Sweet hell, they were in here!
I hurry to get up when the back of the guard’s hand collides with my face. Pain explodes down my cheek, and I’m reeling, my back smacking the floor. I’m crying out with excruciating pain, clasping the side of my face.
“Got you, you little bitch!” he snarls.
Chapter 5
Dušan
I close my eyes, my back against the ice-cold wall, and I’m drowning in fury. Spiraling, falling so damn fast, I’m losing control.
Meira.
She floats in my mind as I slip in and out of panicked thoughts and fucking blind anger at Mad.
I always gave him everything, made him my second-in-command, permitted him free rein in my pack. But it wasn’t enough for the greedy sonofabitch.
I assumed I’d handled his demands and outbursts well but still gave him enough leniency so he didn’t feel any less important. The Ash Wolves’ pack came from his father, and I claimed it by fighting almost to my death to stake my claim from other Alphas. Mad never helped and always ran from danger.
He’s gutless, a terrified asshole who would rather sit back than battle in the way of the wolves. Instead, he manipulates and steals.
A nerve pulses in my neck each time I think of incident after incident where the clues were right in my damn face, but I overlooked it again and again because I considered him family.
I pitied the fool, remembered the shit we both went through as kids, how I covered for him so I got the beatings from my step-father, not him.
Maybe that’s the problem. I’ve protected him for so long, he’s become complacent, arrogant, entitled.
No fucking respect for anything I’ve done for him, or for the pack, and he only sees his own selfish desires.
My foolish oversight will never happen again.
A groan sounds from up ahead, and I slide open my eyes to the guard leaning against the wall outside my cell, ordered to watch over me. Most likely in case Meira finds her way to me, which I want to laugh at. She doesn’t even know we have dungeons in the basement, and I’m hoping she’s smart enough to keep her distance from this place.
I climb to my feet, stretching my back, gaining his attention.
Nico watches me, and I know him well, so to see him betray me like this sits like barbed wire in my gut.
“I saved you years ago.” I groan, then clear my throat.
“That you did,” he answers, his voice strong, as though ready for this conversation.
“And yet you so easily break your loyalty and change allegiance.”
His mouth thins and he folds his arms over his chest. “It’s about survival, Dušan, you know this best. It’s why you created our pack home. But times change, and there is no shame in admitting your ways are not going to ensure we remain safe. We live surrounded by fucking zombies.” His voice climbs, his arms falling by his side.
“What has Mad promised you? Immunity from the undead? He’s wrong. There is no such thing. We all carry the virus in our veins already. We die and we become one of them. We get bitten by a zombie and we’re the undead. He’s making empty promises. The serum he stole from our partnered packs is made for the X-Clan race of wolves, and it won’t work for us.” I suck in a sharp breath. “His action could bring that pack to our doorstep to annihilate us. So now you have two enemies outside your home.” I’m partially lying, as I promised Ander the serum Mad stole back, and I intend to keep my promise, even if I have to pry it out of Mad’s cold, dead hands.
Nostrils flaring, he growls under his breath. “The bitch is immune. Everyone saw her walk right through the mass of zombies unscathed. She isn’t X-clan. Mad told us how you intended to keep her for yourself, to protect yourself while letting us live in fear so we followed you.”
I’m seething. “A fucking lie.”
“He promised everyone who showed him loyalty that they will receive the antidote once he caught her. We all live in fear, especially after they broke into the compound through the fence so easily. If you were smart, you’d stop fighting against your brother and help him find the cure for us all.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I answer with a growl in my voice. “Meira’s sick and dying and that’s why the undead leave her alone. Not because she’s a cure.” I need to get through to him so he sees the truth. My whole pack’s future is at stake.
Nico blinks at me, thinking through my words, and about fucking time. “So she’s immune, which means something in her blood or sickness may hold the key for all of us. Why can’t you see this and do something
to help all of us instead of insisting there is no way to help us? It’s why so many have turned their loyalty to Mad.” His face contorts in disgust.
“That’s not how this works. Open your eyes. Our wolves abolish all illnesses, and she is half-human, half-wolf. What works for her will be killed off in our blood system.”
He snorts and turns away, refusing to hear the truth.
My hands fist, my nails digging into the palm of my hand until it hurts so much, I can’t think. I’m burning up with rage at how Mad planned everything out to undermine me all these weeks, maybe months ago. And these fools… Fuck! They’re all scared, which was Mad’s intention all along. Terrify the pack into submission with his fake promises. Sad thing is he believes Meira is the cure. Transformations eliminate all human illnesses, so when Mad discovers Meira is no longer immune to the zombies herself…
All fuck’s going to hit the fan, isn’t it?
BARDHYL
Meira’s cries shatter through me like shards of glass.
“Leave her the fuck alone,” I bellow from the cell I’m locked in with Lucien. My knuckles are white from how tightly I strangle the metal bars, throttling them.
Lucien is rattling the door with fury.
My eyes are locked on Meira. Always on Meira.
She cries and kicks and scratches the brute daring to lay a hand on her. I’m trembling, my wolf surging through me, my skin pricking with the change.
In my mind, I’m already ripping his throat out. I always push back the hunger from my wolf, try to tame him before I lose all control.
But not anymore… My heart is pounding, fists by my side.
“Bardhyl, I need your help to get this damn door down.”
I whip my gaze in Lucien’s direction as he kicks his boot into the bottom hinge of our prison.
The guard snaps his attention our way, snarling and twisting to come over, when Meira jumps onto his back, slamming a fist into his head.