by Kimber White
Should I call out? One of Asher’s wolves had brought me here. That much I remembered. Was this his way of torturing me? Leave me here in the nothingness to starve to death alone. A creature of the pack as I now was, it seemed the cruelest thing he could do.
I closed my eyes again. There was no point in opening them and they started to play tricks on me. Was that a light I saw? A shadow? With the ledge in front of me, I didn’t want to risk moving toward some illusion so I held myself still. This was a cave of some kind. Air moved through it, I wasn’t suffocating, so there had to be a way to the surface. Asher may have dumped me here, but I didn’t have to just wait to die.
Slowly, I rose to my feet, keeping my back straight against the jagged wall. I splayed my hands out, letting my fingers crawl along the surface. I figured I might as well just pick a direction so I went to the right. The first step I took nearly brought me back down to my knees. My heart tripped then seemed to stop. I blew my breath out hard. For just an instant, I felt that double heartbeat in my chest. This time, it was just a faint echo, not the thundering presence of Tucker when he was near. I hoped against hope that maybe it was Mal or Reed or Barrett. It wasn’t though. As soon as I thought I’d isolated the feeling, it went away again. Phantom limb, phantom heartbeat. I took another step.
I felt the ground angle up and my hopes lifted. If I were underground, up meant freedom. I got bolder. I turned, keeping my left hand against the wall, I started to walk. Steps came easier. At one point, I nearly panicked when I kicked a loose rock that went skittering sideways. I heard it fall a great distance to the right of me off the ledge and land in water far, far below. I stopped to let my pulse get back to normal. One wrong step and I might follow that rock to my death.
I don’t know how long I went on like that. An hour maybe. It was impossible to tell. But, I found a rhythm, a comfort in the progress I made. I shouldn’t have. Perhaps I would have noticed the second set of steps or heard the breathing if my focus hadn’t been on my careful steps.
Then, I finally did hear it. A low, rumbling growl that seemed to come from all directions and nowhere. I knew immediately I was in the presence of a wolf. On instinct, I reached out with my heart for Tucker and the pack and was once again brought to my knees from the pain of their absence. This time, I couldn’t make it stop, not even with steady breathing. So, for the second time since I’d awakened in darkness, I thought I was about to die.
Chapter Thirty-Five
I felt his hot breath against my neck. He sniffed me, his great snout moving from my head down my shoulder. Then, he found the Alpha’s mark at the back of my neck and took great care to sniff me there. He let out a keening whine and pawed at the ground. He went back to the mark and licked me, his rough tongue sending shivers down my spine and fresh pain through my core. I put a hand up and ran my fingers over the small, crescent shaped scar where Tucker marked me. It was all I had left, the only connection to Tucker, and the ache in my heart replaced the comforting heat that used to flare there whenever he was near.
“Stop it.” My voice was barely more than a croak. “Get away from me.”
He chuffed and pawed at the ground. Then the air shifted behind me as he moved around me. I couldn’t see him, couldn’t sense him like I could members of my own pack, but still, I knew exactly where he was even in the pitch darkness. He sat just a few feet in front of me, probably watching me. I lifted my head but the effort of that drained me and I laid back down.
“Do whatever you want,” I said. “You’re going to anyway.”
Again, that eager whine. Then, the cavern filled with the echo of what sounded like knuckles cracking. Oh, it was bones all right. I heard flesh tearing and bones breaking and knew this wolf was shifting in front of me.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said after his shift was complete. His voice was a rich tenor and not unkind. Still, he had to be Asher’s, so I had no reason to believe a damn thing he said. For the rest of my life, I would replay the vision of Asher coming up behind Tucker and shoving him over the side of that cliff. The act of a coward. He wasn’t brave enough to challenge Tucker outright. No. Instead, he waited until Tucker’s attention was locked in the heat of battle with Mal. Even Mal had looked so startled at the viciousness of Asher’s actions.
“Stay still,” he said. “There’s a ledge about six feet to your right. I’ll be right back.”
I heaved myself up into a sitting position and found the wall to my left again. I pressed my back against it and weighed my options. I could go back the way I came. I could try and follow him. Or I could pitch myself off that damn ledge. The pain in my heart receded to a dull ache again and I was thankful for that.
A few moments later, a flame burst to the left of me. No, not a flame. A bluish light bobbed and swayed, coming closer. It was some sort of LED lamp. My captor held it before him and made his nimble way back to my side.
The light hurt. I lifted my hand to shield my eyes, blinking fast until my vision adjusted. My new captor held the lamp in front of him, it swayed in his hand making shadows dance across the stone walls. The cavern was huge; rock walls stretched hundreds of feet up until they disappeared where the light couldn’t reach. He stood on a natural bridge that extended to the opposite wall of the cavern. The light didn’t touch that wall either, but from the echo his footsteps made, I knew the room was enormous, maybe bigger than a football field from end to end.
“You’re safe,” he said. “I need you to know that.”
“Safe? You’re Asher’s. He wants me dead. You helped him tear me away from my pack. I’d say I’m a lot of things but safe isn’t one of them.”
He came closer and set the light down between us. He stood maybe five feet from me. He was tall and broad. I’d know him for a wolf even if he hadn’t just shifted in front of me. Whatever this place was, he and Asher’s pack must use it as a sanctuary because when he went for the light, he also threw on a pair of weathered jeans that he must have hidden behind the rocks. I thought I knew him, for just a moment. But as I looked into his green eyes, I knew he wasn’t the wolf who’d dragged me from Wild Lake. He wasn’t there the day Asher tried to kill me on the side of the road. But, he was part of Asher’s pack all the same. I could smell it on him.
His eyes glinted in the low light, reminding me of Mal’s. The thought of Mal made a fresh ache fill my core. With Tucker gone, he would rise as Alpha now over Jake, Reed, and Barrett. If I were there with him now, that would make him my Alpha too. I couldn’t help it, I found myself reaching out for him with my mind. It felt like a small betrayal; Tucker was dead and here I was searching for a new Alpha. God, I wished I had Pat to talk to. I didn’t understand everything I felt. Grief for Tucker. Longing for Mal and the pack. Fear at what Asher’s pack had in store for me.
“My name is Luke,” he said. “Luke Tully. And Asher is my brother.”
Icy fingers of panic snaked their way through me. I pressed myself back against the wall. I had nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Asher had me trapped. I wished I weren’t human. I wished I could shift like the men I loved and have a chance of outrunning Luke.
“Neve,” he continued. “There are a lot of things you don’t understand. Things Tucker and the others wouldn’t have wanted you to know. He doesn’t want you dead. He just wants answers.”
I didn’t trust him. Of course I didn’t. But Luke took another step toward me, holding his hands out, palms up in a gesture of peace.
“Magda wanted to die,” I said. Luke blanched like I’d slapped him and took a step back. Just as I thought. Asher and the others had no idea that his mate had thrown herself in front of my car on purpose. She’d wanted to end her life rather than stay with Asher another second. He thought her death was my fault and had been trying to get to me ever since.
“You didn’t know that,” I said, pressing my advantage. My words shocked Luke. He shook his head and started to say something but thought better of it and clamped his mouth shut. “She threw herself in fro
nt of my car. She had time to get out of the way. The roads were slick and I lost control trying to avoid her. But she just stood in the middle of that road waiting for me to strike her. Then, after I did, I got out and I held her. Did you know that? You weren’t in the woods that day but you belong to him. I can smell Asher all over you. Magda let go at the end. She was at peace. She would rather die than stay with Asher another second. Now, tell me why that is. Tell me why I should believe a single thing you say about Asher’s good intentions.”
Luke took another step toward me. His body heat came off him in waves, making me realize how incredibly cold it was down here. I wore nothing but jeans and a t-shirt. I had a strong urge to go to him, let him fold me in his arms until the chill left me. It’s what I would have done if any member of my own pack were here. I shuddered and stepped back, horrified at the betrayal of my own body.
Luke cocked his head. There was sadness in his golden eyes and beauty in his face. He had thick, wavy, brown hair long enough that he tucked it behind his ears. The natural arch of his brows gave him a keen, inquisitive expression. His full lips parted as he took another step toward me. Backed against the cave wall, I couldn’t pull away if he decided to close the distance between us and touch me.
He did reach out, hovering his fingers just near my face. A part of me longed to have him touch me. I was who I was. Tucker had forever changed me. I craved a shifter’s touch the same way I craved food in my belly and air in my lungs. But, not this wolf. I didn’t belong to him. He seemed kind and caring even though I could still sense the menace and threat lurking below the surface. He was a predator. He was Asher’s. He was the enemy.
“We aren’t here to hurt you. I can promise you that much. You got caught in the middle of something that had nothing to do with you. I’m sorry for that.”
Whether it was fear, exhaustion, or something else, rage rose up within me and bubbled to the surface. I had enough sense to know I verged on the edge of hysteria. I wanted to lash out with either laughter or violence. I shuddered and lunged for Luke. He sidestepped me easily. When I whirled back to face him, he stood with his head cocked, displaying nothing more than passing curiosity at my outburst. I righted myself. “What’s happened has everything to do with me. Asher ripped me away from my pack. Tucker was dying and I never even got the chance to say goodbye. Do you have any idea what that’s going to do to the others? I don’t belong to you. I belong with my pack.”
The minute I said it, I wanted to take it back. Of course Luke knew. It was likely what Asher counted on. My pack would be in disarray. Their Alpha had died. It meant Mal would rise as their new leader. But they’d soon realize I was gone and it would leave them as devastated as I was. They needed me as much as I needed them. They would be weakened and vulnerable. Mal led a pack of just four now. Never mind Asher, it was just as likely one of the other “friendly” Wild Lake packs would challenge Mal’s leadership in the coming days. The thought of Mal dying too made my guts twist.
“Let me go,” I said, struggling to keep the panic out of my voice. “Let me go or kill me. I won’t let you use me against my own pack.”
I couldn’t keep my rage and grief in check any longer. I lashed out again. I pushed him, or tried to, pressing my flat palms against his chest. It was like trying to move a stone wall. Luke flinched but didn’t move. I ignored the zinging heat that arced between us. Hated what Tucker had made of me at the same time I longed to be with him again. I was a wolf’s mate. My Alpha had been ripped from me. And yet, I still craved the touch of another wolf, traitorous as that may seem. But that was biology. I could still reason. I wanted to hurt Luke. More than that, I wanted to hurt Asher.
I pushed him again. Then a third time. He never moved but he brought his hands up and circled them around my wrists, holding me away from him with the ease of wrangling a small child. It pushed me over the edge.
“Then kill me,” I said. Luke winced as spit flew out of my mouth. “That’s right. I’d rather die than spend another second with you or anyone from Asher’s pack. Now, I understand Magda’s choice better than anyone. She wanted to die so she didn’t have to stay with Asher, didn’t she?”
Luke’s eyes went wide and I knew I’d hit a nerve. His grip tightened around my wrists, making my fingers tingle with the lack of blood flow. I struggled against him and it was in me to say even worse things, but something changed in the air. A new shadow fell across the wall and heat rose within me with such force that my knees shook. If not for Luke’s grip on me, my legs might have given out.
A foreign heartbeat rose and thundered in my ears. I cried out. I wanted to clamp my hands over my ears and drive out the invading heat and rising pulsation, but Luke held me tight. The presence invaded me, assaulted me. I could not drive it out. And as much as I railed against it, my body betrayed me yet again. Heated blood coursed through me. It felt familiar, natural even though I knew it was anything but. It was just like the day Mal came to me in the barn and tried to drive Tucker out and make me feel him instead. But Mal was still part of my pack. Asher wasn’t. I trembled at the implications of it.
Tucker’s connection had been ripped away from me like the loss of a limb. But now, as I stood before Luke, a new primal presence made me shudder and ache. God help me, I felt him in my blood, my bones and in my throbbing sex.
My traitorous body would not let me deny the presence of another powerful Alpha. I saw him in the dim light, his shadow rising like a sphinx. His golden wolf eyes glinted as he strode down the natural bridge toward us. He came to stand at Luke’s side. The last time I’d been this close to him he would have ripped my throat out if Tucker hadn’t got between us. Now, there was nothing between us.
I sank to my knees as Luke finally let go of me. Asher came to me, baring his teeth and letting loose a menacing growl. He bared his teeth in an unmistakable threat. In that moment, I thought he would finally finish the attack he started on that lonely country road in Michigan. Instead, Asher reared back, the bones of his face shifted and rolled. He rose to his full height and completed his shift to man with startling speed. Then he stood before me, naked and powerful, his great cock every bit as thick and long as Tucker’s. God help me, something stirred inside me at the sight of it.
“Get her up,” he said, his voice a threatening baritone. “It’s time she faced the pack.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Asher led the way out of the caves. I followed behind and Luke stayed just behind me. It wasn’t necessary; there was nowhere for me to go. The cave passages narrowed. I hugged the walls and followed Asher’s steps. At one point, the passageway shrunk so far we had to duck and crawl to get through.
In spite of myself, I admired Asher’s form as he nimbly ducked and dodged the low walls and twisting path before us. He was tall and broad like Tucker. The muscles of his back rippled. At one point, we reached another natural ledge. There was no bridge across. The drop went down for what seemed like miles and the opposite ledge was six or seven feet away. I could make it, I thought, but the cost of misjudging wasn’t worth it.
Asher turned and offered me his hand. I hesitated but took it. He pulled me close against him. His body heat seared me. My nerve endings hummed to life at his touch. I closed my eyes tight and tried to shake the sensation away. This was Asher Tully. Tucker’s enemy. My enemy. My body recognized him for the Alpha he was, nothing more. I hadn’t lost my senses.
With an athletic bound, Asher had us across the divide. He didn’t let me linger in his arms and set me down quickly. He seemed unsettled by my touch as well.
The trail out of the caves seemed to take hours. Maybe it did. But finally, we emerged into the cool air under a canopy of tall trees. It was daytime. Just past noon, I guessed, as the sun rose high. The straight, thick trunks of poplar trees surrounded me. A heavy mist hung in the air where cool, damp air of the cave met the humid, warm air of the forest. I knew we weren’t in Michigan anymore.
A memory flickered at the corner of my brain. Wh
en my mom was still alive, Dad took us on a road trip to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. My heart fluttered. We went through a forest trail just like this one to get there. Pat said Asher had gone to Kentucky when his pack fled Wild Lake.
“Mammoth Cave,” I whispered. Asher shot a look back to me. “That’s what this is, isn’t it?”
“They’re connected, yes,” he said. “But we’re the only ones who know how. You won’t find any tourists this far in.”
We made our way through the forest trail. I don’t know how far we’d come, but Asher stopped at a massive, fallen oak. He reached beneath it and pulled out a canvas backpack. He’d left his clothes there. He quickly dressed in faded jeans and a t-shirt. My eyes flickered to his fly as he zipped it. I turned away just as fast as he met my gaze.
“It’s going to be dark soon,” Luke said. He caught a canteen Asher threw him from inside the bag and took a drink. My own mouth started to water and Luke handed it to me. I hesitated for a moment, afraid to take anything from them, but my thirst won out and I drank down the cool, clear water.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and lobbed the canteen back to Asher. He slung the strap over his shoulder and headed back to the trail. We walked maybe two more miles before we came to a clearing. A mini compound of trailers sat nestled among the trees. They were broken down, fading yellow where the siding may once have been white. This place was a far cry from the comfort of Wild Lake. Asher’s pack had been cut off from their thriving, W.L.O. income when he led them away from Michigan. It looks like he’d just led them to squalor.
A few doors creaked open and Asher’s pack emerged.
“We’ll take her to my trailer for now,” Asher said.
I had no vote in the matter and my feet were screaming in pain. Dull heat flushed through my body and I shivered. It felt like the first, aching signs of a flu. I shook it off. No matter what else happened, I had to find a way to get through the next few hours or days. Mal and the others would come for me. My job was to survive until either they did or I found a way out of this myself. One way or another, I would not serve as Asher’s hostage.