CAGED (Mackenzie Grey #2)

by Karina Espinosa

  “This is bullshit, Blu. I can’t believe you’ve been living like this. God, I can’t wait until we get your freedom back. When you can go and be with whoever you want to be with.”

  Her tears spilled like a waterfall and she smiled. “Thank you, Kenz. You’ve given me hope. If anyone can do it, it’s you.”

  I shook my head. “No. We can do it.”

  ***

  When Blu left everything started to take its toll on me: my ancestry, the Lunas, Logan. I wondered if I would be sent for reeducation and meet this King Alexander fella. Everyone talked about the sperm donor, but I hadn’t heard a peep about the lady who gave birth to me. Maybe Vivian had been right, maybe I was a mutt. Since the wolf gene was stronger than anything, my other half could be human for all I knew. It would help explain my inability to be a Luna. I was a girl from the twenty-first century, a sometimes obnoxious millennial.

  I was in mid rant with a fire ant, about how the series finale of Lost had been a complete let down, when the sound of multiple boots came thudding down the stairs. You know it’s bad if I’m talking to insects. They could have at least given me a babysitter that I could annoy—I mean talk to.

  “Imaginary friend?” Sebastian said as he came into view, Jonah tagging along right behind him.

  “Yes,” I waved to the ant beside me as I laid flat on the ground. “This is Sawyer. We were discussing how we got screwed with that shitty ass finale of Lost. I mean, who the hell even knows what it meant? Did they actually die? And if so, what the hell was the point of all seven seasons? They put me through all that stress for nothing!”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Bash said as he unlocked the cage. My head jerked up.

  “Have I done my time, Officer? Am I free to go?” I rested on my forearms and wiggled my eyebrows.

  “No,” he grunted. “The full moon is in less than two hours. We’re unchaining you.”

  “Thank fuck. My arms feel like they weigh a ton. I had an itch on my nose like hours ago and I was too lazy to scratch it.”

  “Now you can,” Jonah said as he unchained my left arm while Bash did my right.

  As soon as I had a free hand, I rubbed my nose in the most unladylike fashion, and I didn’t care.

  “So, where we going?” I asked as I stood and dusted my jeans.

  “You aren’t going anywhere,” Bash said as he started to walk out with Jonah. “The cage is big enough for you to shift. Should be familiar.”

  I could feel my face pale as all the blood drained from it. Did they expect me to cage the wolf—again?

  “W-What?” I stuttered. “You can’t be for real.”

  “You’re not allowed out of this cage until you have met with The Summit and they decide on a punishment. Didn’t Jonah already go over this with you?” Bash quirked a brow.

  “Yes! But I didn’t know I’d spend the full moon in a cage. You can’t do this to me—you can’t do this to her!” I said, worrying for the sanity of my wolf. It took many full moons to tame my wolf. Caging her up again could bring me back to square one.

  “You will be fine, Mackenzie. In three days’ time, The Summit will meet with you.”

  “I won’t be able to run!” A vein in Sebastian’s neck twitched every time I spoke. “This isn’t right!”

  “Well you should have thought of that before you killed an Alpha!” he roared. I had to take a step back.

  “You’re pissed because I killed that piece of shit?” I scoffed. If I thought anyone would understand, I thought it would be Bash.

  “I’m pissed because you got caught,” he growled.

  “Well next time don’t go bangin’ his sister,” I muttered. Bash glared at me, his eyes flashing sapphire blue. “Where is Little Miss Sunshine, anyway?”

  “Vivian is also awaiting a trial with The Summit. Don’t worry, her treachery will not be overlooked,” Jonah responded, trying to give me a comforting smile. His one dimple peeking out.

  “Well isn’t that grand,” I said, my tone laced with sarcasm.

  After a tense silence, Sebastian nodded toward me. “Shift,” he ordered.

  “Excuse me?” I said, taken aback.

  “Shift. We’re not leaving until you have.”

  “Why? When I feel the moon rise, I will.”

  “You won’t, Kenz,” Jonah said. “The walls are laced with silver. You won’t feel anything. It’s why we’re asking you. If not, the full moon will come and go and you’ll never shift.” Silver didn’t kill wolves, but it made us weak. So that’s what was making me high.

  I laughed. “Whatever,” I said as I pulled my shirt over my head. “What is this, some kind of torture room?”

  They remained quiet. I was pulling my leg out of my jeans when I froze.

  “Is this a torture room?”

  “We use it to hold wolves that need to be contained. That is all you need to worry about,” Bash said. He snapped his fingers for me to hurry it along.

  “Will I at least have some company?”

  “No,” Bash said. “After the third night, you’ll be released under my custody until the meeting with The Summit.”

  Once I was in my birthday suit, I craned my neck left and right, and stretched my tired arms. I shut my eyes and awakened the wolf. It’s time, I whispered to her. My spine rippled against my skin as it accommodated my upcoming form. I no longer felt the pain of bones crunching and rearranging. My shoulders hunched over, and I fell to my hands and knees. Before I knew it, my head snapped up toward Bash and Jonah, eyes glowing silver and the wolf was free.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  I paced.

  It was all I could do in this ten-by-ten foot cage. With the silver lacing the room, I couldn’t sense if daytime had come or not, so I stayed in my wolf form. The only semblance of information filtered in with the howls of the wolves. The greater they became, the more I realized it might be the second night of the full moon. No one had come to check on me and I felt my jet black fur bristle with annoyance. She wanted out and to run. I kept promising myself that when this was over, we’d go for a real run, alone.

  My claws scraped against the concrete floor with every step I took, and every so often I growled at no one in particular. I imagined I would be cranky after this whole ordeal. It might not be the greatest idea if they took me to The Summit right away. Who knows what kind of nonsense would come out of my mouth and land me in even bigger trouble than I was already in?

  In the midst of my musings, the door to the basement swung open. I inched backward into the dark corner and camouflaged myself by shutting my eyes. My muzzle twitched as I didn’t recognize the scent of whoever approached. It was only one person from the sound of the footsteps, and I smelled…cologne? The strong, heavy scent had me sneezing. Blowing my cover.

  I opened my eyes and found a man standing before my cage. He wore a dark suit, no tie, and his white shirt had a few buttons undone at the top showing a smattering of chest hair, but what surprised me was the pin on the left lapel of his blazer. It was gold…and the same Celtic triquetra tattooed on my hip. My eyes roamed from his appearance to his face and his wolf-like features made me wonder: friend or foe? Just what Pack did this guy come from? He was clean shaven but older, maybe in his forties? Dark hair slicked back away from his face.

  His clawed hands gripped the cell bars and he began to pull them apart. The metal whined as a gaping hole formed. I growled from the intrusion and spread my front legs wide and steady—waiting for an attack.

  “Mackenzie Grey,” he said, his voice gruff, but with an accent. Irish possibly? “In the name of King Alexander MacCoinnich, you are hereby ordered to death for murder and high treason against the Lycans.”

  He put one foot inside my cell and I growled, snapping my canines as spittle flew from my mouth. Death? Ordered by the sperm donor? My disappointment and fear had to take a back seat at the moment because there was no way I was dying. Not tonight at least.

  The sound of barking distracted us f
rom one another. It sounded like a dog but…it wasn’t. Like an echo of howling. He froze mid-step as two large wolves bounded down the stairs and charged at the intruder. One was a golden honey brown with highlights and the other a dark gray like slate, but the eyes, glowing gold and sapphire were what gave them away: Jonah and Sebastian.

  Bash’s canines aimed for the Lycans forearm. He sunk his teeth into his flesh, growling as he pulled, while Jonah bit into his leg. They yanked the man backwards and I ran up to the cell bars. Howling at them to stop. Once the suited man fell to the ground, they sunk their teeth into his neck and blood spurted everywhere. I could feel a splash on my coat, and as I licked my muzzle, I tasted the metallic saltiness. Bash and Jonah didn’t stop until the man was limp and lifeless.

  My heart hammered in my chest and I thought it was going to explode. They shouldn’t have done that. Somewhere deep inside my psyche I knew that their actions would trigger something we weren’t ready for. I howled, barked, and cried until I was out of breath and exhausted. The silver in the room was making me weak, tired. I had been down here for too long, it was affecting me more than the other wolves. Sounds of people coming grew louder, closer but I could no longer keep myself upright. Before my wolf shut her eyes, all I saw was red. Blood red everywhere.

  ***

  “Mackenzie!” I heard my name but it sounded far away. I felt high, drunk even. My mind was foggy and my head dense.

  “It’s the silver, Jonah, she’s been down here for a while.”

  “We need to go before they send more. They won’t stop until she’s dead.”

  “Mackenzie!”

  I rose with a start. No longer in my wolf form, I gasped in a heady amount of air as I felt like I was suffocating. Pennies. All I could taste were pennies as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, but I was only cleaning it with more…blood. I spit and gagged.

  “What the fuck?”

  I looked around the room, my vision spotty but I didn’t want to wipe away what I was most certain was more blood. Both Sebastian and Jonah were on the ground, butt-naked, watching my reaction. They were also covered in crimson.

  “What the hell happened?” I growled. I could only remember the one man who came in but from the look of the basement, piles of dead bodies were scattered everywhere. The gore made my stomach turn and I had to swallow the bile that wanted to come out. Severed body parts, fogged over eyes wide open, and the stench—goodness the smell was so poignant I had no idea how they sat there with such ease.

  “What did you guys do?” I exclaimed as I tried to stand but my hand slid off the slippery floor and I fell.

  “We did what we had to do,” Jonah said.

  “Was that The Summit? I thought I had until after the third full moon to meet with them?”

  “You were going to meet with the American Summit. We were visited by the Europeans,” Bash said as he palmed his eyes. The vein in his neck throbbed like it was about to pop.

  “W-What?”

  “How did they find out?” Jonah asked.

  Sebastian shook his head. “I don’t know but it’s a massacre out there.”

  “Wait,” I froze. “They didn’t just come after me?”

  “No,” Bash said, a single tear rolling down his grimy face. “They came for all the Lunas.”

  I jumped up, almost slipping again but held on to the metal bars. I reached for my dirty clothes and didn’t bother with undergarments. Dressed, I slid through the hole made by the man and exited the cage. Barefoot, I skated across the wet floor to the staircase.

  “Damnit Mackenzie, don’t go out there!” Bash yelled as he and Jonah went after me.

  I ran up the stairs taking two at a time and pulled open the door. The sunlight streamed into the living room like a freakin’ laser and I squinted, covering my eyes with my arm. I felt disoriented as I walked with no clear direction as to where the front door of the Estate was. I tripped over something and fell. I looked back at what it was and came face to face with Vivian’s lifeless body. I screamed.

  “Kenzie,” Jonah whispered as he gripped my arm and hauled me to my feet. My body began to shake as I glanced down at Vivian. Half her body was in the hallway and the other half was inside the doorway she had most likely tried running out of.

  “No, Jonah, where are they? Where is Blu?” I screamed.

  “My father told us to stay downstairs, Kenz. We have to wait.”

  I pushed him off of me. “Fuck that,” I growled and ran. I was making a mess in his father’s house. My feet leaving footprints behind on his white polished floors. I went through a doorway and found myself near Charles’ home office. From there, I went in the direction I knew was the front of the house. In less than thirty seconds, I was pushing out of the front doors and into complete chaos.

  Wolves howled in both human and animal form. They held on to loved ones who were now dead, in their arms they cradled lifeless bodies.

  I bounded down the front steps, my head swiveling in every direction as cries of agony filled the air. My heart broke into a million pieces as I ran into the woods. My feet cut open as they caught on rocks and branches as I sprinted, raising my nose in the air to find Blu’s scent.

  I found Rachel first. She was in wolf-form as she lay limp on the grass. Her fur a yellow blonde, and only one eye stared back at me—empty. I dropped to my knees and didn’t dare touch her.

  “Mackenzie!” Bash yelled as he reached me.

  “Get off!” I cried as he gripped my shoulders and pulled me up. “I have to find Blu!” My body shook with the force of a hurricane.

  In an unexpected gesture, Sebastian tucked me into his arms, my face smashing into his chest, he whispered, “I’m so sorry, Mackenzie.”

  I hiccupped as I cried louder. This was all my fault.

  “Oh my God, Emma!” I pulled away. “Where is she? Oh God, please don’t tell me!”

  He shook his head. “Don’t worry, she’s safe. She stayed behind with Amy and Jackson.”

  “Blu, I have to find her.”

  “No one survived, Mackenzie.”

  Jonah caught up to us just as I slapped Sebastian’s chest. I pounded my fists onto his chest over and over again.

  “Why didn’t you protect them? You should have been there to help them!” I screamed as I wailed on him. They were defenseless. They were just starting to grow the nerve to defend themselves. How could their Alpha and Beta abandon them at a time when they were most vulnerable?

  Jonah tried to pull me away. “There was nothing we could do, Kenz.”

  “You could have fought!” I yelled. “Just like you did for me! They were part of your Pack!”

  “You were our priority!” Jonah screamed back at me. “You come first!”

  I pushed away from both of them.

  “We didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late,” Sebastian whispered. “We came to you first when we saw them, but we didn’t know they came for all of you.”

  A whistle rang out through the woods. Bash and Jonah perked up.

  “It’s Charles,” Sebastian stated.

  We ran back toward the Estate and met wolves from all Packs of the Northeast carrying bodies to the driveway.

  “Blu!” I screamed as I saw a wolf carry her out of the woods. Her head hung over his forearm and her eyes were open, fogged over. I ran to her and tried to rip her out of his arms but he was strong. I hadn’t recognized him before but up close I realized it was one of the captains from the Brooklyn Pack—Mohammad.

  “She is gone,” he said, his voice cold and harsh. Those black eyes drilled into me as he pushed past me with her still in his arms. I didn’t go after her. He knew it was my fault.

  Someone I didn’t recognize handed Bash and Jonah a pair of shorts for them to cover up. Charles came down the front steps once he saw us.

  “How the hell did they find out, Charles? Who gave the order?” Sebastian demanded. His blue eyes were ablaze with fury. His muscle flexing in aggravation as he clenched a
nd unclenched his fists.

  Charles handed a folded sheet of paper to Bash as his brown eyes watched me. His nostrils flared in disdain and I was sure he blamed me—it was okay, I was blaming myself too.

  Sebastian’s eyes shut as he read the contents on the page and passed it to Jonah.

  “The King?” Jonah exclaimed as he looked to me.

  “Your father,” Charles started, “was the one who gave the direct order for your death and all the Lunas involved in your little revolution. Are you happy now? You just caused the death of many innocent Lunas that my Pack has now lost!”

  Bash put out his hand to stop Charles from coming near me. The Alpha glared at him.

  “And you two,” he spat. “What you both have done. Going against The Summit—not even I could get you out of this one. You’ve killed a dozen of their men just to protect—to protect her!” Charles pointed at me with disgust.

  “You expected us to let them kill her? She was in a goddamn cage, defenseless and weak because of your silver!” Sebastian roared. “You fuckin’ prick!”

  This was the first time I ever heard Sebastian curse. Jonah stepped between his best friend and his father.

  “Bash!” he yelled. “This isn’t his fault. The Summit failed us, not him.”

  “He’s part of The Summit!” Sebastian shouted. “This has gone too far, Jonah! Not even I can follow these laws anymore. What they’ve done—they have crossed a line.”

  “What are you saying?” Jonah asked. Even I was curious to what Bash was freakin’ out about. I’d never seen him lose control like this. He always trained his emotions but he was at a breaking point.

  “I cannot hear what comes out of your mouth next,” Charles said as he pointed a finger at his Alpha-Beta.

  I tuned out their argument. My mind swam with the heartbreak of losing my friend. Blu didn’t deserve this. She didn’t even want to go against them, I made her. I forced her hand. And then to find out that the King was the one who ordered my death. How could I even begin to process that? I hadn’t wanted to meet him or have anything to do with him, but it felt like a stone dropped in my stomach as the realization that he didn’t give a damn weighed me down.