A.L.F.A. Instincts

by Milly Taiden

Stretched side to side before them was a stone shelf extending from the wall. At one end of the shelf stood a double-pan balance or dual-weight scale. It looked like a letter T with the top bar resting on a narrow rock. On the left side of the bar’s middle pivot point sat a bowl that appeared made from bone; on the far right side lay a rock about the size of a bowling ball.

  He lifted the bowl and tilted it to see inside. The bar both items sat on see-sawed so the rock side slammed down. He quickly put the bowl back onto the bar, but the ball side didn’t rise to balance the bar again.

  She slapped at his hand. “Didn’t your mother teach you not to touch strange things? You have no idea where that’s been.”

  A loud crash shook the room. He spun around to see the ceiling above the door had crashed down, blocking the entrance. They were trapped inside.

  The vibration he felt grew more intense. Water poured through the hole in the rock ceiling. He gawked at what was happening. Quickly, the floor at the bottom of the ramp was covered.

  “Oh my god. Don’t you ever touch anything again. We’re going to drown if we don’t get out,” she yelled.

  CHAPTER 15

  Kari stood at the top of the ramp that would lead to their watery deaths if they didn’t find a way out of the room quickly. She watched Bryon pull a small boulder from the rock pile in front of the blocked door and toss it aside. That would work . . . about an hour after the room filled.

  She turned back to the scale. It had started when he’d touched it. Maybe that was how to stop it also.

  Next to the bowl side of the scale sat two other bone bowls: one slightly smaller than the bowl on the weight and one just over half the weight bowl’s size. A large of pile of pea gravel sat at the other end. The solution looked rather obvious to her. She had to fill the big container on the weight so the sides balanced again.

  She scooped handfuls of rock into the small bowl and dumped it into the big bowl. Two scoops filled it a little over halfway. When pouring in the third batch, the half of the bar that held the bowl twisted, letting the bowl slide off and spill. What the hell? She repeated the same process, and again, when she poured out half of her third deposit, the bar twisted and dumped.

  The water was at her knees. Bryon was still throwing boulders into the middle of the space from the door. The ten-foot-square room was quickly filling.

  Alright. The small bowl didn’t work, so she filled the middle-sized bowl and dumped it in. The weight bowl was almost full, but not completely. She put several scoops of pebbles in the middle bowl and poured it in. Again, while filling it, the bar turned and emptied the contents. Damn. What was the issue?

  Bryon hollered behind her, “Having fun playing with the rocks?”

  “Yeah, I am.” Jerk. “Seeing how this is the way out, I’m having a fucking blast.” With that statement, he waded to her.

  “What have you got?”

  “I have to fill this bowl on the scale so it balances with the rock,” she said.

  “That looks easy enough,” he smirked.

  She stepped back and motioned for him to try. “Go for it, genius.” He went about the procedure that she did and came to the same conclusion.

  “It doesn’t work. Maybe it’s broken.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s it. Then we’re dead. This has to have a solution that will stop the water flowing. We just have to figure out what it is.”

  Bryon kept filling and refilling the bowls while she treaded water. She could solve this problem. The answer was on the edge of her brain. Maybe she could use math to work numbers.

  The water had filled the room enough that she couldn’t touch the ground without going under. Since the ceiling was so high, they had several minutes before they would drown. Her mind spun into a panic making her start to hyperventilate. Bryon pulled her to him.

  “Hey now. Everything is going to be fine.” He pressed her against his chest and rubbed the hair away from her face.

  She snorted. “I’m not stupid, Bryon. We’re going to die very painfully, very soon.” He just sighed and held her. “Because I had to pee, this is the last day of my life,” she said.

  He pulled back from her. “What?” he asked. Going back to try different bowl combinations, she recalled her misadventure of trying to find a bathroom. They laughed about it. She could now that it didn’t matter.

  Once the shelf with the weight was under water, she stopped trying since the rocks floated in the water and took forever to settle into the big bowl. Their heads were nearing the rock ceiling.

  Bryon wiped hair from her face and met her gaze. He was inches from her. The heat from his gaze melted her insides. She wanted him badly, but he was so . . . much. Clearly an alpha male, she wasn’t used to someone so big and sexy giving her his full attention. It was overwhelming and dizzying. Her body heated and her hormones danced like she was a teenager in her first date.

  “May I kiss you?”

  Instead of a reply, she wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled herself closer, her lips meeting his. The sensation was electrifying. The intense pull from him made her press herself as close to him as possible. She couldn’t get enough of his touch. This was new and intoxicating.

  Suddenly, the answer to the three bowls was in her mind. “I got it,” she gasped, pulling away from their kiss. “Stay here.” She gulped down a big breath, dove under the water, and pushed off the ceiling. She picked up bowls, filling and dumping. The process took much longer than originally as the pebbles floated in the water, but did eventually settle.

  She had reached the point where she’d either found the solution or would have to go back to the top for a breath. There was so little air left when she came down, she doubted any remained now. The water had squeezed its way into every crack and crevice. She stayed and finished for Bryon. Maybe there was a chance he would go on if he hadn’t drowned already.

  She was amazed how quickly he’d wormed his way into her heart. She hadn’t even felt it. Anger seemed to be the dominant trait in her when he was around.

  As she poured pebbles into the final bowl, the air in her lungs depleted. She watched to make sure the big bowl lowered and balanced with the round rock on the other side. She hoped that did something to save Bryon. She fought to get into the position she needed to swim up. There was no way she could get all the way back to the top in time to breathe. Her body couldn’t move that fast.

  Her short arms stroking through the water, barely moving her along, she closed her tearing eyes. Her lungs burned so badly, she could no longer fight the need, even though she knew it would be a long, painful way to go. Kari smashed her lips together refusing to give in to what her body demanded she do. Her body convulsed, needing to suck in what wasn’t there.

  She could stand it no more. Her mouth opened and she pushed the built-up carbon dioxide from her lungs.

  CHAPTER 16

  If he was going to die, this was the way to go. Kari’s lips were soft and warm. She tasted like she smelled, of sunshine and lemons. Refreshing, invigorating. He felt like he had enough energy to run for hours. But he had nowhere to go. Just being beside him, she turned his life around.

  The past several months, he had been slipping more and more into a funk that wouldn’t let him go. If not for his mission to take down a group of people who sold and abused others, he had no reason to get out of bed. He realized how much his family gave him purpose. He was born to protect and that’s what he’d die doing.

  Suddenly, Kari pulled away. Her words didn’t register in his lust-hazed mind until after she was gone. She got what? Then he remembered the rocks and balance they were working with. Did she really think that contraption was the key out of this mess?

  His head bumped against the ceiling. He hoped she was right. If not, it wouldn’t matter in a few minutes. If they died, it was his fault. He’d led her into this cave because he thought his shifter se
nses could get them out, could save them no matter the situation. Maybe he’d grown too dependent on his animal’s abilities, choosing to use them instead of his brain. Taking risks he shouldn’t, thinking he could get away before the danger became too great.

  Maybe he could’ve, but his human mate was fragile. Bad injuries usually killed them. The delicate body didn’t repair itself fast enough. He would always have to remember that. He could rely on his instincts, but he needed to get back to the basics of work: using his brain.

  He’d gotten cocky, figuring no one would be able to stop him with his abilities. How did he get caught in the first place? He was depending on his wolf’s sense of smell, but the bad guys used hunters’ scent block to keep him from smelling them. He’d walked right into their trap. Not thinking twice.

  His head tipped back to keep his nose above water. If this was it, he wanted his last sight to be of his mate. He’d hold her through the last moments of their short time together. He sucked in a couple of breaths to build oxygen in his bloodstream to last him longer underwater. His lungs filled with the last bit of air available. Then a section of rock let loose from the ceiling inches above and in front of him. He jerked his head back to keep his nose from getting bonked.

  Access into an upper cavern just opened. He popped his head up through the opening. It was another small room, and it was water free. He gulped down another breath and went for his mate. He prayed she still had air.

  He pushed off the ceiling, diving straight for the side where the bowls and rocks were. Her eyes were closed, mouth open. Bubbles trickled out of her mouth. He wrapped his hands around her head and pressed his mouth completely over hers. His tongue slid forward past her lips and her eyes popped open as he breathed oxygen-rich air into her body.

  Another breath shared and she nodded she could make it. He took her hand, pushed off the rock and glided them to the hole in the ceiling. They burst through, both gasping in the musty room.

  She clung to the edge of the opening. “Where did this hole come from?”

  “The ceiling section fell into the water.” He wondered . . . “Did you balance the bowl?” he asked. He examined the edges of the hole and discovered two slots with wooden dowels in them. If he was a betting guy, he’d say the stone chunk that fell also had dual holes. By solving the problem with the bowls, the dowels slid back, releasing the escape route.

  “It balanced a few seconds before you showed up. The final rocks had just settled and I—” she choked back a sob, “I was about to—” Her eyes squeezed shut and it was more than water dripping from her hair that ran down her cheeks. He wrapped an arm around her waist and muscled them out of the water, onto the rock floor above. He set her in his lap and scooted back to the wall. Then drew himself around her shaking body.

  He held her tightly and gently rocked, whispering reaffirming words until her racking body had quieted to small shudders and hiccups. Hopefully, his body heat was enough to keep her from shivering and going into shock. He knew from experience she would suffer post-traumatic stress. How could you come within a breadth of dying and not be affected?

  Fortunately for him, his wolf was able to keep him from dreaming. After so many years of barely escaping death and seeing all the atrocities men do to other men, his dreams became only nightmares waking him in the dead of night in a cold sweat. He didn’t sleep much anymore. Even his animal was having a rough time consoling his psyche. But now that he had his mate, she could help him through the difficult times. He once again looked forward to living.

  He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, building friction to keep her warm and aware he was there. She wasn’t alone. She never would be again. He had to figure a way to break the mate news to her. It’d be really nice if they got out of here without her hating him. First things first. He was going to hold her, right now, as long as she would let him.

  After several minutes, she let out a deep breath and settled against him. His wolf was content, as was he, with her there. When he’d embarked on the undercover assignment a year ago, his wolf was pissed at him. How would they ever find a mate if he was hiding his ass in a room, spying on men? Maybe that had been the reason he’d taken the job.

  If he didn’t search for her, there was always the hope she was out there, waiting for him. If he searched and never found her, then knowing he’d never have true love would crushed him. Was that fucked up logic or what?

  She asked, “Where do you think the water came from? That trap was well planned.”

  He thought about her question. “The taxi driver said the river disappeared underground somewhere. Maybe we were close enough that when the rocks fell to block the door, it opened a small channel that flowed through the hole. How did you solve it? What were we doing wrong?”

  She sighed and leaned more into him. “I didn’t understand what was going on until I applied math concepts. There were three different-sized bowls. Say the smallest held three pounds of rocks, the middle held four, and the big bowl on the scale needed five pounds. I had to come up with five pounds exactly; any more or less triggered a dump, and I had to fill the big bowl in two trips or it tipped again.”

  That was confusing, he thought. “How do you get exactly five out of three and four?”

  “I filled the four pound and dumped it into the big bowl. Then I filled the four again, but dumped it into the three bowl, leaving me with exactly one pound in the four bowl. I dumped that into the big bowl to make five exactly.”

  “Holy shit, woman. That was brilliant. I would’ve never thought of that.”

  She moved in his lap. He smelled a sweet shyness from her. She said, “You really think so?”

  “Hell, yes, I know so. If you weren’t there, I would be floating belly-up right now,” he said.

  “More like if I weren’t here, neither would you. It’s my fault we’re in this mess.”

  He looked at her even though he knew she couldn’t see him in the darkness. “How do you get that idea?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I just feel responsible for everything.”

  He leaned her head to his lips and kissed her. “Don’t think that for one moment, beautiful. If not for you, I would be in a much worse place.” She breathed out and settled into him more.

  “Do you think the guards are after us still?” she asked.

  “Nah,” he replied, “I’m sure they’ve given us up for dead.”

  “Have you?”

  “You forget, I’m an ALFA, baby. No way I’ll ever give up on this, on you, on us.”

  CHAPTER 17

  On you, on us.

  She heard his words clearly, but understanding wasn’t so clear. Did he mean he wasn’t giving up because his boss would expect more of him being an ALFA or because he cared? It would be nice if this gorgeous man cared for her, but she wasn’t holding her breath. Shit, she’d almost died holding it minutes ago. It would hurt if she fell for him and he saw her as only part of his job.

  But his kiss when she was sure they were going to die . . . she wondered if she had crossed over into heaven. Her body had never felt so alive. Like her nerve endings were being overloaded with sensory details she couldn’t take in. Heat suffused her from head to toes. If not for the cool water, she’d be sweating though her clothes. Then she’d have to take off those clothes and get all naked with this man holding her . . .

  She’d better stop that line of thought before he smelled her and broke her heart by telling her she didn’t have a chance with him. That was what scared her the most: rejection. Her self-confidence was never high. Only when she was solving problems, putting her brain to work, did she not doubt herself.

  She let out a sigh. “It’s pitch-dark for me. I can’t see a thing. I’m guessing you can see?” she asked. Stupid question, probably. But she wanted to know more about this species. What made them tick? How were they different? How the hell did they shove an animal bod
y inside themselves?

  “I can see, but not very well. Our eyes need some light to magnify,” he said. “It’s much the same as night-vision googles. There has to be some light to magnify to get it all to work.” He inhaled deeply. “I smell wood and a strange . . . oil maybe.” He moved to get up. “Stay here for a moment.”

  “No problem,” she replied. “Like I’m going to walk around in the dark. I can’t walk in the light without tripping, much less this.” She heard him scuffling and then a click. Several feet away, a blaze erupted from the darkness. She covered her eyes from the sudden brightness. “What is that?”

  “I’m guessing it’s an old-fashioned torch. The material covering the sticks has been doused in fuel or oil. Whatever it is, it’s flammable.”

  “That’s convenient,” she said. Then she thought about all she’d read about the tunnels. The Nazi theory was sounding more viable every minute. If the Nazis knew they had to flood the cavern to get up here, then they knew flashlights wouldn’t work after the batteries got wet. So they made sure to have a supply of torches available. “Is there more than one?” she asked.

  “Yeah. How did you know?” he said.

  “Lucky guess. Let’s get going.” She was getting tired and who knew how long they’d be in here. The little she had eaten at dinner was about through her system. She’d do cartwheels for a protein bar right now.

  Bryon handed her an unlit torch, then took her hand in his. “There’s only one way,” he said.

  She smiled. “You lead and I follow.” He frowned at her words, but led her out of the cavern. That had been status quo most of her life, especially with the FBI. Men would always lead and the women would follow. But sometimes that was perfectly fine. The bad guy usually took out the first person to enter the room. It was the second person who took out the bad guy.

  “That’s not what I meant earlier when I said you shouldn’t go walking off,” he said.