by M H Soars
Crossing my arms, I glare at Martin. I won’t let him intimidate me. “She told me Victor was the former beta, and also Valerius’s older brother.”
“Did she also tell you that she’s Valerius’s little sister?”
“What?” I can’t help my tone of surprise. Sure, they have the same pale skin tone and dark hair, but my brain never considered they could be related.
Martin chuckles. “I guess not. It doesn’t matter. To answer your question, Victor stays in a far less comfortable place than this. I swear to God that wolf is alive only due to sheer willpower. He has seen hell.”
Cocking my head to the side, I stare at Martin more closely, wishing I could hear his thoughts. His last comment is not something I’d expect from him. Who is this guy?
“It almost sounds like you pity him. I didn’t think you had it in you.”
A spark of anger turns his gaze murderous right before he takes a menacing step in my direction. “Watch your tongue, Amelia. Just because Valerius thinks you’re something special doesn’t mean you can’t be punished. Inside this building, I’m the king.”
I suck in a breath when Martin’s eyes flash red for a split second. What the hell? I saw the same thing happen to Valerius, but he’s a wolf. Our eyes can glow different colors when we’re angry, mostly ember for I what I could tell. I just figured because Valerius is evil incarnate, his eyes were different. Maybe Martin isn’t human after all. My eyes drop to the tattoo on his neck. The raven seems to be moving as if it were alive. I peel my gaze away before he can notice I’m staring at it.
“You’re free to roam in this part of the building. As you can see, the door has no lock.”
“So you trust me now?”
“Oh, trust isn’t involved. But you see? When I can control you with a snap of my fingers, I don’t need locks. Also, it’s so much fun to watch new occupants try to escape.”
I can only imagine the kind of nasty traps Martin has in place.
“What’s the food situation here? I’m hungry.”
Not in the slightest, but if the wolves staying here are free to walk about, I want to get to know them as soon as possible. Acquiring intel quickly will be my best bet to find a way out. I’m breaking out of this prison at the first chance I get.
“Let’s go. I’ll show you. Wouldn’t want you to wander and get lost.”
Following Martin without attacking the guy is an exercise in my self-control. I feel my nails turn into claws, so I curl my hands into fists to hide the partial shift, puncturing my own skin in the process. The pain helps me focus on the end goal, which is escape, not kill Martin, at least not yet. When we reach the end of the corridor, he veers right, then left before we arrive at a common area where a few tables and chairs are spread around. The room is painfully bare, like everything else here.
“Valerius likes to keep his wolves hungry to the point of starvation. It’s his way to show he’s in control. When I get the ones for the implant, I waste weeks nursing them back to their top shape. I wish Valerius would treat his subjects better. We would have conquered Crimson Hollow already if he wasn’t so savage and stupid.”
My spine goes taut by the mention of my home. “Is that what Valerius is planning to do? Conquer the entire city?”
Ignoring my question, Martin opens a cupboard door, and grabs a few bags of chips from inside. “This should hold you over until dinner. You’re still expected to come to the barn. Valerius must be dying to see you.” The sarcasm is duly noted. He hates Valerius’s guts, which is an interesting fact to know.
Martin drops the bags of chips on the counter, then walks away without another word. Fuck. I’m not done with my questions yet.
“Where is everyone?” I ask before he disappears around the corner.
He stops, glancing over his shoulder. There’s a strange glint in his eyes, not quite malicious, but definitely mischievous.
“I almost forgot to ask,” he says with an upward twitch of his lips “What’s Kenya’s favorite restaurant?”
I’m rendered speechless for a few seconds, my brain having a hard time processing Martin’s question. Throughout my ordeal, I hadn’t stopped to think about my non-supernatural friends.
“Don’t you dare go near Kenya.”
Martin pretends to be crestfallen, as if I have no reason to issue such a statement. “What? Why? I like her. She’s funny and cute, and I gotta say, I think she’s into me, too.”
Fear for my friend overrides caution, and I find myself taking a couple of steps in Martin’s direction, a low growl stuck in my throat. “You stay away from her.”
Instead of lashing out, which I totally expect him to do, he simply laughs. “Oh, Amelia. You crack me up. So I guess that means you aren’t going to help me. I’ll just have to figure it out by myself then.”
He turns the corner and I want to go after him, stop the guy from leaving, but someone calls my name, distracting me. I spin around, coming face to face with Rochelle.
Chapter 31
Samuel
I’m about to hurl when we finally arrive at the abandoned hunting cabin between Xander’s and Valerius’s territory that Nina told me about. Dante drove like a maniac up the mountain, and all the twists and turns put a knot in my stomach. Or maybe I’m just too fucking worried about Red and the fact we couldn’t reach Mom or Tristan when we called them.
I’m the first out of the car, taking deep breaths of fresh mountain air to recover from the ride from hell.
“Do you think that ring will work?” Dante walks around the car to stand next to me.
I reach under my T-shirt, pulling out the ring that I attached to a thick metal chain. I don’t want to lose it in case I have to shift. A faint blue glow emanates from the stone on it. Mrs. Redford cast the cloaking spell as soon as we were a safe distance away from the cave of evil witches. We didn’t think it would be wise for her to tag along, so we dropped her off on the side of the road, as close as we could to town. She would call somebody to pick her up.
“There’s only one way to find out,” I say.
I turn up my nose, sniffing the air with purpose. The scent of a creek nearby reaches me, confirming we’re in the right spot.
“That way.” I point.
I hate that we’re going in blind. Nina really didn’t tell me anything. We have no fucking clue where Red is being held. The moment we got on the road, I started trying to sense her through the bond, getting nothing. I still can’t get anything as we cross the creek, which only serves to increase my anxiety. Why can’t I feel her?
We find a hole in the wired fence big enough for us to pass through. The moment my feet land on Valerius’s territory, I sense a shift in the air, a feeling of wrongness. I bring my fisted hand to my chest, trying to massage the sudden ache there to no avail.
“Do you feel that?” I whisper.
“Yes,” Dante hisses. “There’s bad energy all around, I can’t exactly pinpoint where it’s coming from.”
“What about Red? Can you sense her?”
My brother shudders as he closes his eyes, scrunching his eyebrows together. “No.”
I curse under my breath. I’d hoped Dante could pick up something with his special gift. He did manage to speak to Red the last time we were here. A great feeling of defeat takes hold of me, darkening my mood.
“Wait,” he says suddenly. “I think I got something. The connection is weak, as if it’s been blocked by an unnatural barrier.”
“Is it enough to locate her?”
Dante doesn’t speak for several beats before he finally answers, “Yes. Let’s go.”
We head deeper into Valerius’s lands. While Dante is busy focusing on the bond to Red, I expand my senses to pick up any scent of sentries nearby. Sure, we have Mrs. Redford’s spell, but I’d rather not put it to the test if I can help it.
Within a minute going down the mountain, I pick up the stench of Shadow Creek mutts. Holding Dante’s arm, I point to my forehead. Dante is the only one who ca
n initiate a telepathic convo while in human form.
“I smell them too,” he says.
“We should circle around them.”
He shakes his head. “We can’t. My bond to Red is getting stronger. We’re going in the right direction. I’m afraid if we deviate course, I’ll lose it.”
“Then let’s hope the witch’s spell works.”
“You should be more concerned about the gadget Nina gave you.”
“I trust Nina. I can’t say the same thing about that old hag.”
Rolling his eyes, Dante turns his face away, continuing his fast-paced trek toward Red. I don’t care about what he thinks. Mrs. Redford is on my shit list.
We come across two sentries in the next minute. They move almost silently through the forest like ghosts, their paws making no sound on the ground. The spell is supposed to conceal everything, including smell and sounds, yet, on edge, I continue to walk in the opposite direction when those sentries cross not even a yard from us. They don’t glance in our direction, which means the spell worked.
“How far are we from Red?” I ask after another minute, walking blindly in the woods. I hate not knowing the lay of the land, and even though I trust my brother with my life, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a trap waiting for us wherever Red is.
“I can’t say for sure, but we’re very cl—”
The sound of laughter interrupts Dante’s train of thought. We both stop and listen.
“What’s the matter, Nadine? Cat got your tongue,” one man says, followed by the laughter of a second companion.
I take a good whiff of the air, picking up the scent of two humans and a shifter. I’m not sure if she’s a wolf from Shadow Creek or from another pack. Her scent is strange. But one thing I do notice is the smell of fear coming from her.
There are noises of struggle before the second guy says, “Squirm all you want, little wolf. No one will hear you, and you can’t scream for help.”
Dante and I stare at each other. In sync, we move toward the commotion. Untamed bloodlust tinges my vision crimson when we see what those two fuckers were trying to do. One of them has a wisp of a girl pinned against a tree, grinding against her. She’s putting up a struggle, trying to break free, but they only laugh at her attempts.
“I’ll take the one with the girl,” I say before I make a run toward the man.
Dante leaps onto the second guy, catching them both by surprise. The man assaulting the girl swings around.
“What the fu—”
His words die in this throat when I slash his neck open with a partially shifted claw. He falls on the ground with a muffled thud. A gurgling sound erupts from his mouth as he slowly suffocates on his own blood. Shifting my attention to the left, I see that Dante dispatched the second guy with speedy efficiency as well.
Movement on my peripheral catches my attention, and I turn around to find the barrel of a tranquilizer gun pointed at me. The teenager’s grip on the gun is pathetic, and with the way she’s shaking, chances are she’ll miss me by a mile.
Raising my hands up slowly, I say, “We’re not here to harm you.”
She switches her aim to my right, where Dante now is. “Please put the gun down,” he says in a soft tone.
Slowly, the girl drops her arms, but she’s still eyeing us with wariness. The fear has not left her scent.
“What’s your name?” Dante continues.
She shakes her head, before rubbing her neck.
“I don’t think she can talk,” I say. “Are you able to reach her mind?”
“I’ve tried. She’s keeping herself closed off.”
Then something occurs to me. “She can see us. The spell doesn’t work on her.”
With the end of the gun, she begins to draw on the ground. Moving closer, I see she spelled Red’s name followed by a question mark.
“Yes, we’re here for her. Do you know where she is?” I ask, forgetting to keep my voice down.
She nods, then motions for us to follow her.
“Do you think we can trust her?” I ask.
“She’s leading us toward the bond, but I can’t tell yet if she’s friend or foe.”
“Those men harassing her were hunters.”
“Yes, but just because she was their victim doesn’t mean much if she’s a Shadow Creek wolf.”
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
Chapter 32
Red
Relief washes over me. Rochelle is alive and seems okay despite the visible weight loss and dark circles under her eyes. In the next second, she’s hugging me, an act that catches me completely by surprise. My stiffness only lasts a split second before I’m hugging her back.
“Are you okay?” we both ask at the same time, easing off the embrace.
“Yes,” I reply. “And you?”
“I-I don’t know. The last couple of days have been a blur. Why are you here?” Her face falls as the implications of my presence finally dawn on her. “You were captured.”
“Yes. I’ve been here for a few days. But we’re getting out soon. I promise.”
Rochelle’s eyes widen in fear as she shakes her head slightly. “I’m forsaken. Something was done to me. I have no control over what I do anymore.”
I grab Rochelle’s hands, keeping them together between mine as I lean closer to whisper, “There’s a chip in your head, controlling everything you do.”
“Yes, I gathered as much. That dark-haired man, Martin, is running the show here. He came in to see me when I woke up in a lab of sorts. He made me do things I didn’t want to. He forced me to shift.”
“Where are the other wolves?”
Rochelle eyebrows furrow together. “What do you mean? I’m the only one here. I haven’t seen any other wolf.”
“But I thought…” I close my eyes for a brief second. “Martin gave me the impression there were others here, Valerius’s favorites.”
My mentioning of the Shadow Creek alpha does something to Rochelle. Her face twists into an expression of fear as she hugs her middle, her body now trembling. “He…visited me a couple of days ago.” She drops her chin, staring at the floor instead as if she can’t sustain my gaze.
“What happened?” I ask softly, instinctively knowing this is a delicate matter.
She shakes her head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Seething, I dig my nails into my palms, trying to control the sudden fury that begins to pump in my veins. “Did Valerius do anything to you, Rochelle?”
The enforcer lifts her chin, her green eyes now filled with unshed tears. “He made me do things, and I was powerless to stop him. He forced me to shift and…and he took me.”
Fat tears roll down Rochelle’s cheeks, but this time, she doesn’t hide from me. Breaching the distance between us, I hug the woman again. Her sobs are steady, silent, and don’t last very long. Before we break apart, I whisper in her ear. “I’m getting us out of here today. And I’ll make Valerius pay for what he did to you. I swear.”
“I’d like to say that Valerius is mine, but I don’t think I can go against him, Red. Even speaking his name renders me impotent.” She takes in a shaky breath, peering over my shoulder. “I feel so ashamed, not for what he did to me, but to not have the drive to rip his throat out.”
I touch her shoulder, not knowing exactly what to say to make her feel differently. No words can soothe the raw pain she’s feeling. “Hey, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. What he did to you was despicable and evil. I can’t presume to understand what you’re going through, but believe me, you will heal; you will persevere.”
“How can you be so sure? We’re stuck here at his mercy. There’s nothing keeping him from coming back to torment me again. I think that’s what I’m most terrified of, that the nightmare has only started.”
“I’ll kill him before I’ll let him touch another strand of your hair.” I feel a surge of power coming from within as I speak these words. The voice doesn’t even sound like mine; it sounds
like the voice I hear in my head.
Rochelle’s sharp intake of breath clues me in she noticed the difference, too. “Oh my God. You are really her, aren’t you?”
“Who?” I take a step back, rubbing my hands together. I know exactly what Rochelle’s answer is going to be.
“The Mother of Wolves.”
Taking a deep breath, I run a hand through my hair. “I’m not sure what I am. My grandmother is a witch, that could account for my strangeness.” I’m not sure why I’m so reluctant to accept I’m the reincarnation of some badass wolf. Stubbornness or fear of failure?
“All I know is we need to get out of here now,” I continue.
“I’ve looked everywhere. I can’t find the door out of this section. It’s been driving me crazy because I remember vividly the way I came in, but there’s nothing there anymore, just a smooth wall.”
“Valerius is using spells to keep exits concealed. There are rune wards surrounding this building. I’m sure he has runes inside, too.”
Rochelle wipes off her wet cheeks, shuddering in the process. “How are we going to find the exit if it’s concealed? Wolves don’t deal with magic well.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re supernaturals, but we’re at the mercy of spells and hexes, just like humans are. The shifter community was almost annihilated completely during the Thirteen Days of Chaos.”
“Everyone keeps mentioning that, but I still don’t know exactly what happened here twenty-five years ago. I think it’s something I should know.”
Rochelle nods. “It’s part of our history. Lots of good people died, supe and humans alike.”
The pressure in my chest increases as a lump lodges itself in my throat. If I don’t put a stop to Valerius’s plans, more deaths will occur for sure. I glance up, searching for a security camera. I don’t see any which makes no sense. There’s no way Valerius would leave this part of the building unmonitored.