by Ellis Leigh
Not that Sariel would admit that to a child. “I sure hope so.”
Cassiel mushed on, the ride easier and the dogs happier with a path to follow and other animals to chase. She also watched Luc lead the big, scary wolves through the forest. He was definitely the biggest of the group, with almost black fur and silver spots over his back. He ran with a grace to his stride, an athleticism that challenged even his fellow wolves. Cassiel liked watching him run. She liked watching him, period. There was an attraction there for sure, a bond she had never experienced. He’d called her his mate, but what that meant to her, she wasn’t sure yet.
She was pretty sure she wanted to find out, though
They arrived at the entrance to the cave system as the light finally began to fade from the region. Twenty hours of sunlight had never been enough for her, but perhaps the knowledge of what she could become—learning more about the predator that she was—would ease her fears. Not yet, though. Cassiel shivered as the shadows grew deeper, doing her best to smile at all the naked people as she handed them the bundles of fabric they’d brought so they could cover themselves. Thankful when Luc—already wearing the brown cloak she’d handed him—came up behind her and pulled her into his arms.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I just…it’s getting dark.”
He hummed, cradling her. “You’re not prey anymore, Cassiel. You’re the predator.”
She spun in his arms, reaching up to hold on to his shoulders. “A predator with a mate.”
His growl was dark, deep, and fierce, as was the kiss he planted on her lips. He obviously liked her using that word.
“Okay, you two,” Zoe yelled, lined up outside the entrance with the others. “Let’s cut out the PG-13 show. We have children to find.”
Cassiel felt her cheeks burning brightly as she pulled away. “Oops.”
“It’s to be expected,” Luc said, still clinging to her. “The need to be close is only going to get worse.”
“It will?”
“Of course. The mating imperative…” He stopped, staring down at her with a furrowed brow. “I keep forgetting all of this is new for you.”
“New and completely confusing.”
“It’s okay. I’ll slow down. You can ask me anything you want to as well.”
“Cool because we’re about to spend some serious time together under a mountain.” Cassiel headed toward the entrance, raising her voice so the others could hear her once she reached them. “There are three options once we get inside. All three I’d say are big enough and go deep enough for someone to have hidden children away in, so it’s not like we can choose to ignore one of them.”
Bez nodded. “So we need to split up.”
“Definitely.”
Luc jumped right in. “Deus and Zoe will take one path, Mammon and Charmaine another, and Cassiel and I the third. Bez, you and Sariel remain out here with Dina. If we feel the need to bring the child inside, we will, but I’d really prefer not to.”
“Understood.” Bez turned and headed for the sled where Sariel seemed to be playing a patty-cake game with the little girl.
“She’s not going to let the child go,” Cassiel said, keeping her voice low so hopefully only Luc could hear her.
“And maybe that’s just what Dina needs.”
And Gavreel. And Tabriss. The two little ones still stuck inside the caves.
Luc must have known where Cassiel’s thoughts had gone. “You ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She moved toward the rest of the pack, turning on the headband flashlight she’d brought with her and handing out the two others. “Stay together, be careful, and if anything seems or feels off, backtrack. These caves are old, and I have no idea how stable anything is inside there.”
Cassiel led the way into the caves with Luc on her heels and the rest of the crew behind him. The temperature of the air dropped significantly inside the darkness, the air developing a moist and weighty feel to it. Cassiel shivered in the cold, wondering how the little girls had fared inside. Had stayed warm and comfortable without the sun to feed them. Her fear for them—and her anger at the people who had held them—grew with every step.
When they made it to the split, she stopped, nodding to Luc to make the next decision.
“Mammon and Charmaine, go right. Deus and Zoe, center. I’ll go with Cassiel to the left. We meet at the entrance in thirty minutes whether we find anything or not.”
The men grasped forearms, looking like some sort of superhero group to Cassiel. When they broke apart, each team of two started down their respective paths, Luc watching them go and looking so very worried.
“You really care about them.”
Luc turned, his eyes shadowed in the dark around them. “They’re my pack, my brothers. Yes, I worry about them.” He stepped closer, crowding her. “I worry about you too.”
Cassiel huffed, moving into the cave and away from the man who said things that made her heart flutter. “I’m fine. I’ve also been on my own for a long time, so there’s no need to worry about me.”
“You’re strong and independent, but there’s so much need within you. My beautiful angel wants more than she has.”
Cassiel froze, unable to move another step. “What are you talking about?”
“I can feel things—sense people. My pack is strongest, but other people’s emotions show up as well. This pack in the woods—they’ve been dragging me into a sort of funk because of the sickness within them. That’s been very hard to deal with.”
“Do all wolves have this power?”
“No. Just me, as far as I know.”
“Oh.” She turned to face him, shining the light on him in the process. “Is that why you showed up at my house all crazed and out of it?”
Luc nodded. “We were hunting the pack.”
“Why?”
“They were sick—I could feel it. Also, I’d sensed feminine energy at one point, but then that disappeared. They claimed to be holding two females, and I worried it was against the women’s wishes. They also tried to take Zoe hostage.”
“They what? How were any of them left standing?”
Luc chuckled. “Yes, she’s quite the spitfire. She and Deus managed to run the pack off, but that bad energy over the Range just grew and grew. I’ve been up here for years, slowly going insane trying to figure out what the pack was doing.”
“Kidnapping children, apparently.”
“Or breeding females for them.”
Cassiel shivered. “They sound pleasant.”
“Hence why we killed them.”
“Did you really just use hence?”
“Yes. Why?”
“It’s an old-man word.”
“I am an old man.”
“How old?”
“They didn’t track birthdays the way they do today when I was born. The closest guess I have is around two thousand years.”
Cassiel stopped, staring at him. Unable to form words as his knocked around in her brain. “You’re what?”
“Shifters live a long time—Dire Wolves, specifically.”
“So all the wolves in your…”
“My pack?”
“Yes.”
“They’re not all as old as me, but most of the men are at least a thousand years old. The women are more in their early hundreds.”
“Early hundreds.” She nodded, rocking her head slowly up and down as if that would help make sense of the words. “You’re really selling this whole ‘be a shifter’ thing. Except for the whole raping women part. I could skip all of that.”
Luc’s growl echoed throughout the cave. “That won’t happen to you. I would die first.”
Cassiel melted a little, the strength and conviction behind his words warming her from the inside. “You’re sweet. Scary, but sweet.”
“I’ve never been called sweet before, so thank you.”
“You get called scary a lot?”
“All the time.”
�
�I can see that,” Cassiel said, moving deeper into the cavern. Back on the hunt. “So, tell me more. What’s life as a wolf like?”
And so they spent the next twenty minutes, him talking to her in a soothing sort of voice, filling in the details that would help her transition from human to wolf shifter. On things like instincts and longevity, healing abilities and strength. On what would happen if she embraced her inner wolf and let the beast have some control of her. How amazing it was to have the two sides working in concert.
Cassiel wasn’t convinced.
“It’s just so unusual,” she said as they turned another corner in their crazy, stone tunnel.
“I’m sure it is for you, thinking you were human all these years, then finding out that’s only partially true. That’s not the way most shifters develop.”
“Apparently I’m not most shifters.”
“No, my angel. You are not.”
“Why do you call me that?”
“Angel?”
“Yes. I noticed all the other women in your group have angel names as well.” Cassiel frowned. “Except Amy.”
Luc chuckled. “If it helps you complete your puzzle, her real name is Armaita.”
“Ah, that makes sense now.” Cassiel kept moving and thinking, unable to stop her mind from spinning. “Even these little girls—angel names. Why is that?”
“Because you’re all Omega shewolves.”
Shewolf, she understood—Omega? “So, not only am I a wolf shifter, I’m a special wolf shifter?”
“Technically…yes. Omegas are always females, full of a power that is considered a gift to their packs, and we believe them to be descendants of the extinct Dire Wolf breed.”
“You’re not extinct.”
“Not yet, but close. Even if there are more of us on earth than my seven—which I only somewhat believe could be a possibility—there couldn’t be many. We’re too obvious in wolf form to be hidden without a lot of effort.”
“Because of your spots?”
Luc stopped, his voice giving away his surprise. “You noticed?”
“I had a dog with ermine spots once. I was fascinated by them. Yours are silver, though. Very striking against your dark fur and, yes, impossible to hide.”
There was a long silence as Luc stood frozen, staring at Cassiel with a shocked expression on his face. At least until he huffed what sounded a lot like a laugh. “You surprise me more and more, Cassiel.”
“And you worry me.” Cassiel stopped again, the trek obviously sidetracked. Her heart pounding in her chest. “I don’t know if I can accept all of this.”
“All of what?”
“The wolf thing, which seems like I sort of don’t have a choice in. But also you, your pack, the whole—” she waved a hand between them “—mating hullabaloo. I barely know you.”
Luc stared at her for a long moment before nodding once. “It is a lot, but please know I would never force myself on you in any way. If you told me to leave you alone, I would.”
Doubt had never tasted so strong. “But would you really?”
He paused, watching her. Likely weighing his answer. “I’d keep watch, but you’d never see me again. Unless you called to me. Or you needed my help.”
“So, you’re stuck with me?”
“No. I’m blessed to have you. I believe you being stuck with me is the drawback in this situation.”
“And if we don’t get along? If we argue a lot?”
Luc pulled her in close, hugging her tightly. “Then we argue. Couples argue, from what I understand of this modern world.”
“Yes, they do…but most couples don’t have claws. We do.”
“I promise not to get mad if you use them against me.”
Cassiel choked on a snort. “And my teeth? What about those?”
Luc leaned close, silent. His stare blazing. The air growing thick and warm between them. The mood shifting fast. He brushed his lips against hers as he whispered, “You can bite me anytime you want. It’s how we finalize our mating. I’m quite looking forward to the feel of you tasting me, in fact.”
Oh. “You want me to bite you?”
Luc shivered, growling low and pulling her close. “I do, but only when you’re ready. There’s no coming back from that level of bonding. You’d never be able to get rid of me.”
Cassiel didn’t think that was such a bad idea, so instead of pulling away, she kissed him, tangling herself in his scent and his touch. Forgetting all of their responsibilities and the needs of others around them. At least until she heard shouting from behind them.
“Luc. Cassiel. We found them.”
20
The absolute joy of having his mate in his arms came to a cold, hard stop as soon as he heard those words yelled through the cave. The girls had been found, and if the tone of Deus’ voice was any indication, they were alive.
“They found them,” he said, trying hard to rationalize those words.
“And the voice sounded positive,” Cassiel said, obviously on the same thought path as Luc. “Hopefully they’re okay.”
But Luc already knew they were—he could sense the relief of his pack, the absolute rage of Bez, tempered by the love of Sariel. Those girls were alive—likely neglected or in some sort of bad shape, but alive. And his pack would never let anything happen to them again. Period.
“Come on.” Cassiel grabbed his hand, tugging him with her. “Let’s go meet them and see what they need from us.”
Luc went along willingly, hanging on to his mate’s warm hand as if dropping it would sever his lifeline. And maybe it would—she’d helped them find the girls, had alleviated the worst stress he’d ever experienced in his very long life, and quieted the world when he needed it. Cassiel was his own personal angel, and he couldn’t imagine letting go of her. Ever.
Still, Luc tried his hardest to focus on what needed to be done, to push off the mating imperative for the moment. The little girls had to take priority. Once they were examined by Michaela and Ariel and received whatever care they needed, he could shift his focus to his mate.
He already knew the girls were going to have an amazing home with his pack if they needed one. Sariel would be thrilled to have two more little ones to care for.
It took far longer than either of them would have liked to find the mouth of the cave, but eventually, they made it out of the darkness and into the night. Sariel stood by the sled with the three little girls crowded around her, all looking raggedy and so very underfed. Luc’s wolf roared for them—for the fact that someone could treat them so poorly. Little angels who deserved to be loved and cared for had been left in the dark of the caves for…shit, he had no idea. Likely years if his own senses had been accurate over his time in Alaska.
Bez moved close to Luc as soon as he and Cassiel exited the cave. “My mate is very protective of the girls.”
Luc could see that with his own eyes and feel the connections between the motherly Omega shewolf and all three of the girls growing with every second. Sariel had always been meant to be a mother, but her body made having her own children an impossibility. She’d raised sweet Angelina, an Omega Bez had rescued along with Sariel, but she’d been a teenager in human years at that point. These girls were much younger. And they definitely favored Sariel.
“I assumed she would be,” Luc said, holding tight to Cassiel. Gauging the comfortableness of the girls before taking a single step in their direction.
But Bez wasn’t finished. “She’s going to want to—”
“I know.” Luc patted his friend, his brother, on the shoulder. “I’ll take care of what I can.”
Luc approached the girls slowly, bringing Cassiel with him, dropping to his knees in front of the little ones so as not to scare them.
“Which of you ladies is Gavreel?”
The little girl on the left raised her hand, her deep green eyes locked on his. So brave, that little shewolf. “I am, sir.”
Sir. He didn’t deserve the title.
�
�And so this is Tabriss.” Luc nodded toward the redhead on the right. “The three Musketeers, reunited. Are you okay? Do you need anything right now?”
All three turned to look at Sariel, who stood protectively over them. When she smiled, they shook their heads in unison.
“Don’t be afraid to ask us for anything,” Luc said, guessing the girls’ shyness might override their basic needs for comfort and security. They definitely seemed on edge, and he had a feeling his next question was only going to make that worse. “Do you know where your parents are?”
“Our moms are dead,” Gavreel said, her face unchanging. Her voice flat and unemotional. “They died in the caves a long time ago. Dina doesn’t even remember hers.”
Little Dina shook her head, looking so damn heartbroken and sad. And tiny. By the fates, were the girls small.
“And your dads?” Luc hated asking, knowing the likelihood of how these gifts had been brought into the world. Of how much of a nightmare their moms must have lived.
Gavreel didn’t falter, though. “We were never told who our fathers were.”
Of course not, because the children hadn’t been born from a normal sort of union. But that was the end of what Luc needed to know. There was no use putting the children through more at that moment. They could ask for more at a later time, when the girls had had a chance to adjust to living outside the Brooks Range pack. Because no way were they leaving them behind.
“You three are very brave and strong. I hope you know that.”
Gavreel—while obviously the leader of the group—nodded toward the smallest one. “Dina is the brave one. She decided to run because the men scared her. I tried last year but couldn’t find my way out.”
Luc reached for the little Omega, holding his hand flat and still to allow her time to accept his offer. When she did—when she mimicked his movements and touched his fingers with hers—his heart skipped two beats. “You are a warrior, little Dina. Never forget that.”
She nodded, tucking her head against Sariel’s stomach as if to hide. A warrior in what looked to be a raggedy nightgown and bare feet, who’d run all the way to—