It was a strenuous hike up the mountain. I was still in the best shape of my life, but having the baby and then taking three months off from my usual daily hiking regimen had dulled my stamina. Not to mention I was running on three hours of sleep because baby Creek was going through a growth spurt or something. He wanted to eat like every hour throughout the night. It was exhausting.
But we made it to the top.
Taking a water break, Sage and I panted while Creek slept in the sling around my shoulders.
“I’ll take him now,” Sage whispered, and I nodded gratefully. I needed to start scouting for the cave, although something told me it would be easy now.
My wolf surged to the surface, ready to do the thing where we split up, but I stopped her.
‘Let’s do this together. As one,’ I told her, and felt her acceptance and pride at that decision.
I trust myself.
Purely on instinct, I set off to the right and started my hike to the top, just trusting that I would find it on the way. Sage and the baby followed at a good distance behind me, giving me the space to sense and feel what I needed to. I scanned the mountain wall to my left with a critical eye, looking for grooves or holes or something that might have suddenly appeared that I might have missed before.
Then I felt it.
The cold breeze, the smell of magic.
It was the same spot I’d sensed something at before. Taking a few more steps toward the steep mountain, I could see where new grass had grown over the spot I’d clawed at. The blades were shorter than the grass around it. The closer I got, the more the air felt heavy and the hair on my arms rose with electricity.
‘Trust,’ my wolf whispered.
This was it. My instincts had led me there before and here I was again.
Taking in a deep breath, I looked back at Sage and my sweet baby boy, nodded once, and stepped forward, walking straight into the mountain with complete faith that I had found the Cave of Magic and that whatever lay inside was something I could handle. One step, two, three, when I got within six inches of the dirt wall, it began to … flicker. Like a mirage, it became wavy and then transparent, before disappearing completely and revealing a deep, black, open tunnel straight into the mountain.
Sage gasped behind me, and a tear slid down my cheek as the relief of an entire year’s worth of search culminated in this one moment.
“I’ll be right back,” I told Sage without looking over my shoulder. I walked straight into the darkness. Blue flames flared to life at my sides simultaneously, causing me to jump a little.
I got this. I was made for this. I’m ready. I had to talk myself through it.
As I stepped deeper into the cave, the temperature dropped and the smell of magic became pungent. I could nearly taste it, like hot metal and electricity. Astra never actually told me what I would find in this cave or what I was really going to do when I got here.
With each step, more lanterns lit, until a faint blue glow flickered in the very center.
Steeling my breath, I walked into the large opening, toward the blue light.
Holy mother of shifters.
The tunnel had opened up into a giant cavern, too tall and too wide for my brain to fathom. The entire mountain must be hollow…
The sides of the walls were filled with rich, green, creeping vines, and brilliantly colored flowers. Around the border of the space was a ring of weeping willows that glowed with the vibrant blue hue that lit up the entire space. These trees, this place, it was … magic.
My skin buzzed with electricity as my wolf came closer to the surface out of curiosity. Following a stony path, I walked through the outer ring of glowing weeping willows and into the center of the mountain. It was a good ten minute walk through a legit fairytale garden. The white crushed stone path glowed supernaturally as it led me weaving in and out of vibrant ferns and wild dandelions, all growing out of a bright green bed of moss. I ducked under vines and trees until finally I reached an opening that seemed to be in the center of the mountain.
There in the middle of the mossy ground was a flat stone tablet.
I stared at the sentence engraved on the stone and squirmed, scared to read it aloud. But I knew I must. I’d come all this way, been through too much to turn back now.
I also noticed an engraved handprint underneath, where I assumed I was supposed to put my hand. My eyes skimmed over the words as I prepared to say them aloud.
I, NAME, give everything that I am to this land, and to my people, and I pray that I be found worthy of leading them.
What if I wasn’t found worthy? What would happen? Would I never make it home?
Only one way to find out. With a final gulp, I bent on one knee before the gray stone tablet and placed my hand over the impression.
“I, Demi Spirit Moon Hudson-Calloway, give everything that I am to this land, and to my people, and I pray that I be found worthy of leading them,” I said with a healthy mixture of confidence and fear.
The moment the final word left my lips, an electrical jolt shot up my arm and into my body. I was thrown backward as the blue light from the willow trees suddenly snaked out in long, thin, strands and wrapped around me, lifting me into the air.
I gasped then as I felt the consciousness of thousands of people merge with mine.
‘Alpha,’ I heard Astra whimper.
‘Alpha,’ Rab huffed in awe.
I felt Willow and Arrow and all of the other Paladins, most of whom I didn’t even know their names yet. I felt their love for their people, their land, love for me, and it filled me up until every corner of my soul was completely void of loneliness.
Tears trickled down my cheeks as my wolf howled inside of me.
‘I’m coming home,’ I told them.
Still suspended in midair, there was a pulse, a knocking against my sternum, and then more connections invaded my consciousness. Water, trees, soil, it was all alive. The Paladin land was special. It was linked to this cave and I knew that now. The Dark Woods were sacred, only for alphas, and Sage’s presence here was not allowed. It was like the trees were talking to me, telling me all of this.
I mentally sent an I’m-sorry-for-Sage-being-here, and then the magic set me back down and released its wisps from my body.
Something flickered before me, and I blinked rapidly to make sure I wasn’t going insane.
The ghost of a man stood before me. He was tall, with long silky brown hair. When I studied the shape of his face, my jaw opened in shock … I looked like him.
Running Spirit.
He smiled at me, bowing his head deeply before another flicker of light shimmered to his left and Red Moon popped into view. The old man who had saved me from my fall at the base of waterfall mountain looked ten years younger as he beamed down at me and bowed deeply. Another flicker, and then another, as all of my ancestors appeared and each bowed to me before they started to walk in a circle around me. I wept as the emotions all became too much. Everything around me spun as dizziness washed over me. The spirits of my ancestors started to fade and I wiped away my tears.
“Thank you,” I croaked, while the room spun harder, and I wondered if I was going to pass out. There was a popping noise, and then I blinked, confused.
What the…?
I was at the top of the mountain now … standing in front of the large wooden tree trunk with all of the previous names engraved in the roughhewn bark.
Was the cave … a portal? I shivered at the thought. That had been some crazy stuff down there. The magic, feeling Rab and Astra, and then seeing Red and everyone. I did it … I felt my pack, my land, everything. I was their alpha. The trial was over and I was found worthy.
I needed to get back to Sage and Creek, but I knew there was one last thing to do. Bending down, I pulled my hunting knife from my belt and finished carving my name. I’d started the D all those months ago, but knowing it felt wrong I’d stopped, sensing it was something all of the others did only when they had completed their time here.
Demi Spirit Moon. When I was finished, I sat back and observed my accomplishment.
I did it. I found the cave. I was found worthy. Now I got to go home. Tears streamed down my face as I placed my hand on the flat wood and caressed each name of my ancestors.
“Goodbye. Thank you,” I murmured as I stood, preparing to make my way back down the mountain. Then I heard a very distinctive sound.
A wolf’s growl.
More specifically, Sage’s wolf’s growl.
“I’m coming!” I took off down the mountain, veering down the path that would hopefully lead me to them. Why was Sage in wolf form? If she was a wolf, where the hell was my baby? As I ran, my own wolf surged to the surface, leaping out of my body and solidifying in front of me. I nearly toppled off the side of the cliff as I ran vampire fast, until I skidded to a stop behind the giant black bear, who reared up on his hind legs and roared.
My breath caught in my throat. He was about to slam down on Sage’s small wolf, Sage who stood protectively over my sleeping baby with her lips peeled back in a snarl.
‘STOP!’ I mentally commanded the bear, throwing my hands forward. An unseen force slammed into the giant beast. He shook, and then froze, giving Sage’s wolf enough time to grab the cloth of the shoulder sling and drag my sleeping Creek out of harm’s way. The bear was frozen, standing in an awkward position, and I wondered if I’d done that. I took two steps until I was facing him, and shock ripped through me to find him literally frozen. His eyes moved frantically left and right but his mouth was unmoving, open in a roar, his paws stuck in midair.
I’d told him to stop … but I didn’t think … whoa. Was this some new Paladin alpha power? Or one I’d always had and never knew about?
Then I heard the most beautiful sound in the world.
The drums.
The Paladin drums that would lead us home.
“I said I’m sorry for having Sage here! Now we’re leaving and I don’t want any more trouble while I escort her out of the sacred woods,” I told the bear, the trees, and whoever else was listening.
‘Go!’ I shouted, and the bear slammed down onto all four paws and took off running up the mountain and away from us.
When I turned back around, Sage was back in her human form, dressed and cradling my baby to her chest.
“I take it you found the cave?” She looked wide-eyed at the bear now fleeing us.
I nodded, the beat of the drums so loud it practically vibrated my entire body. “And that’s our way out. Come on!”
Sage frowned confusedly, looking at the direction I pointed.
I stopped. “The drums, don’t you hear them?”
Her frown grew deeper as she shook her head.
Hmm, must be a Paladin thing.
She handed Creek to me, and in one quick move I slung him over my chest before looping my arm through Sage’s.
“Let’s go home,” I told her.
She seemed unsure, as if she didn’t want to put hope in something that wasn’t going to pan out. But I’d never been surer of anything. I could feel them—my pack, my people, my land. The Paladins were waiting for me. Pulling her forward, I forced her to take the first few steps until finally she started to quickly walk in stride with me.
“We’re going home?” Sage seemed like she was in shock. The beating of the drums grew louder with each step away from the mountain.
I nodded. “Home to potato chips, cupcakes, and make-up!” I grinned.
A smile finally tugged at Sage’s lips. “I just can’t wait to shave my legs.”
We both burst into laughter as I led her forward. The trees had parted in such a way that a path had formed.
“Manis and pedis!” Sage screamed out in joy.
“TV and air conditioning!” I shouted.
“Pillow-top mattresses!”
“Underwear!”
“Shampoo!”
“Salt!”
“Ranch dressing!”
I burst out laughing.
“Instagram!”
“Shopping!” Sage cried out.
“Sawyer…” My voice lowered in reverence as I realized what this meant. I was finally going home to him.
Sage nodded. “Walsh too. Boys in general, really. I can’t wait to get laid.”
I threw my head back and laughed throatily. Good thing the baby was too young to know what that meant.
The trees had rearranged themselves to create a four-foot-wide trail right down the mountain, clearly a path the woods had made to lead us home, and we were going as fast as we could without tripping.
“It’s been a year,” I said, almost speaking to myself. “What if…?”
“It’ll be fine. Whatever it is, we can deal with it together.”
I could sense Astra, Willow, Rab and the others were alive, but not how they felt or where exactly they were. These conscious threads binding me to them were new to me, and I was still trying to figure them out.
When I recognized the section of the woods we’d just stepped through, I nearly burst into a sob. The trees were thinning, and the bronze plaque that warned of the danger of the Dark Woods glinted in the fading light.
“We made it!” I cried, and the drums beat louder as if whoever was pounding on them sensed my closeness.
Running full throttle now, tears streaming down both of our faces, I passed the Paladin farmlands, still black from disease—but a few new green buds had formed from the looks of them. Whatever had happened in the cave had worked! We ran harder, coming into town.
That’s when I noticed something was wrong. The buildings didn’t look right. The blackness wasn’t disease … it was … soot, like they’d been burned. Some of them were half caved in.
I skidded to a stop, just in time to see half a dozen Ithaki step out from behind a shelled-out Paladin home. They were dragging a large cage behind them with some type of animal inside. The sight of the Ithaki walking through Paladin Village made a growl rise in my throat. As they drew closer, my gaze fell onto what was inside the cage and a scream ripped from my throat.
Astra.
Underfed, dirty, and banging that little drum like her life depended on it. Her ankles were shackled, brown limp hair so long it was well past her shoulders. My heart nearly stopped right there at the sight of her. When she looked up at me, her hand froze in midair and a grin swept across her face. She looked so grown up … but there was a darkness in her blue eyes that hadn’t been there before. They’d broken her, taken her innocence.
Motherfuckers.
“Ahh, the demon has finally shown up,” one of the Ithaki said, holding a long whip in his hand. Another half dozen Ithaki stepped out behind them, and I knew I wasn’t getting Astra out of that cage without a fight.
Unbridled rage surged up inside of me as I slowly unslung baby Creek and handed him to Sage. “Go to the bunker,” I said through clenched teeth. “I’ll meet you there. Get him safely inside.”
Sage’s eyes widened as she took the baby. “No way. I’m not leaving you to fight alon—”
“Run, and don’t stop until you reach the bunker under the school,” I ordered her.
“No,” Sage growled, her eyes going yellow as she looked at the dozen Ithaki now pulling weapons from behind their backs.
“Yes,” I growled. “I need to know Creek is safe or I can’t fight properly,” I told her. “I need you to trust me, Sage. Everything is different now. That cave changed me. I’ll kill every single one of these motherfuckers before they lay a finger on me or Astra.”
She eyed the dozen Ithaki behind me, who had now started to advance with weapons drawn.
“You sure you have enough power to fight them all?”
I grinned, magic coursing through my veins stronger than ever before.
“They’ll wish they never laid a hand on Astra.” Then I quickly kissed Creek’s soft head. “Mommy loves you.”
With a final nod, Sage took off running.
I wasn’t worried about her ability to take care of herself or my baby now that she was out of the cursed woods. Sage was a badass who wouldn’t stop until Creek was safe in the bunker with Sawyer. But I wasn’t leaving here without Astra.
No way in hell.
“Let her go and I won’t kill you,” I calmly told the Ithaki as magic built up inside of me.
They burst into laughter, looking at each other with wide expressions like I must be joking.
Astra peered up at me, collapsing back into the cage in exhaustion, her little drum falling at her feet. Something dark and feral snapped inside of me.
I thrust my hands out, sending a shockwave of energy at the group of Ithaki. Their bodies blew backward as if they’d been hit by a car, and I kicked off the ground, running right at them with vampire speed. The first one looked up at me with wide, terrified eyes and pointed ears right as I put my hunting blade to his neck and dragged it across his throat, before moving to the next.
My time in the Dark Woods had taught me that there was no joy in watching an animal have a slow torturous death. Whether it be a rabbit or a deer, I always made sure to make their end as quick and painless as possible. But for these monsters, I wanted to carve their insides out before their watching eyes, but there was no time.
Leaping to the next fallen man, I cut his throat too. At the same time, I kept whatever power I’d thrown over the Ithaki pressed down upon them so that they were essentially pinned to the dirt, waiting for death.
How dare they cage Astra like an animal? How fucking dare they! I leapt from body to body in a blind rage, using my vampire speed. When I reached the last one, a female, she was crying, bucking against the invisible restraints I held over her. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.
“Please,” she croaked. “Have mercy. I have a child.”
The unbridled rage fueling my murder-fest left me like a popped balloon.
She was a mother…
With the absence of my rage also came the absence of my power over her. The second I freed her magical restraints, she lurched forward and slammed her forehead into my nose.
Pain exploded between my eyes as blood spurted over my face in a gush. Blurry tears swam in my vision, and dizziness washed over me as I fell backward off of her and she scrambled to get up.
“Look out!” Astra screamed.
Everything was blurry as I blinked back the tears to clear my vision, just in time to see the Ithaki woman charging me with a knife. My wolf surged to the surface, leaping out of my chest and coming at the woman before I could even respond.
“What the fu—?” The woman’s shout of alarm turned into a wet gurgle as my wolf snapped for her throat, ripping it clean out.
Now that the threats were gone, I scrambled forward and knelt before the cage, my fingers gripping the bars until my knuckles turned white. My wolf leapt back into my body, giving me strength as I peered at Astra.
“Alpha, you came.” Astra smiled at me with her little dirt-caked cheeks.
I was so overcome with emotion that I couldn’t speak for a moment. “I heard your drums.”
“You had a baby.” Astra grinned, looking out of it and spacy. Her voice was weak and breathy.
Not wanting her to spend another second in this cage, I ripped outward until the entire door came off in my hands.
“I did have a baby,” I told her, reaching in the cage to pull her fragile body out. She was too light. Oh God, what had they done to her? “You want to meet him?” I looked down at her as she smiled up at me. “Come on.” I heaved her into a standing position but her legs collapsed.
“I can’t walk.” Astra frowned. “They … didn’t like it when I played the drums.”
A sob formed in my throat, but I swallowed it down. “They’re gone now. No one is going to hurt you ever again. I’m so sorry I failed to protect you.” I wept freely now, no longer trying to hide my emotions from her, no longer able to.
Astra reached up and cupped my chin gently. “You did it. Like I knew you would.” She went cross-eyed and her fingers fell away from my face.
Horror seized me and I shook her.
“Astra! Look at me!” I scooped her in my arms, realizing that she was near death. Running past Rab’s old house, now nearly leveled to the ground, I burst into the old birthing center, taking cover in case there were more Ithaki patrolling this place.
I’d been gone a year, I had no idea what the new rules and territories were. But from the looks of the ragtag group that had greeted me and the blackened crops when I’d come in, this place wasn’t exactly habitable.
I pulled out my water canteen and popped off the cap, putting it to her lips. When I tipped it back, she gulped it greedily, something coming alive in her gaze.
That’s it. Fight.
Next, I pulled out the last two pieces of smoked rabbit meat I had and gave them to her. Her hands shook as she shoved them in her mouth, chewing ferociously.
Were they starving her? Fresh rage boiled inside of me, but I shoved it down.
“There you go. You’re okay now.” I smoothed her hair, which felt matted, and I had to swallow down my anger even more lest it blind my ability to properly care for her.
“I’ve been gone a year … can you tell me what happened?” I asked her, wondering if she was aware enough to tell me what had gone down in my absence.
She grabbed my canteen, drinking more water to wash down the final hunk of rabbit, and then nodded.
“A week after you left, Sage went looking for you. A week after that, the Ithaki raided the village. Rab and a small contingent of others fought, but…” Her eyes dropped to the ground.
“But what?” My body stilled.
She swallowed hard. “But a lot died. And then Rab made the call to get everyone else in the bunker. He forced me to go too, but I ran away before they went in, came back to play the drums and wait for you.”
My heart couldn’t take much more. “Astra, you didn’t need to do that. I—”
She reached out and grasped my hand in a frail grip. “I wasn’t going to let you be lost forever. To come back to nothing.”
I leaned forward, pulling her into a hug, and we just held each other for a few long moments.
“Thank you,” I whispered as we finally pulled back.
She bowed her head deeply. “It’s been my pleasure, Alpha.”
This world didn’t deserve such an innocent and loyal person. I didn’t deserve her. Astra was a Paladin national treasure that needed to be protected at all costs from now on.
“You want to go find the others now?” I asked with a slight smile. “I think it’s time we reunited the pack.”
Astra grinned, and I stood. She tried to stand too, but her legs gave out and I caught her by the elbow. “I can’t walk,” she whimpered.
“Then I’ll carry you,” I told her, and lifted her into my arms. It was the least I could do after everything she’d done for me. Slipping out the front door, I moved to leave the building when Astra stopped me.
“Wait.” She reached out and grabbed a little glass jar.
I thought it might be food, and was grateful she would have more since she clearly needed like two foot-long subs right now, but when she opened it I recognized the blue paint inside.
She dipped her finger into the jar and traced a line with her pinky from the bottom of my lip to the tip of my chin. Then she did two small lines under each of my eyes, and two dots under those.
“Now we’re ready, Alpha,” she told me. I looked up at a reflective metal plate that hung on the wall, and was shocked at the woman staring back at me.
I hadn’t seen my reflection for a year, well not in a mirror.
The blood from when the Ithaki bashed my nose covered my upper lip and chin, coupled with the bright blue paint, and a wild and fierce look in my deep cobalt eyes. I looked like … a female you did not want to fuck with.
Turning back to the open doorway, with Astra cradled in my arms, I stepped out into the open air and gasped at what I saw.
“See. You did it.” Astra gleamed as we both stared at the rich and restored land. The once dry and blackened grass that had covered the village was now a vibrant green. Ferns, junipers, oak trees, all of their leaves were rich and alive. Green vines began to grow right before our eyes, creeping along the trellis that hung above the entrance to the birthing center.
The land could grow crops now, we could fix up the buildings and move everyone back. Joy spread throughout my limbs at the sight of the reward of everything I went through over the last year … but I didn’t have time to hang back and see the land restore itself.
I needed to see Sawyer.
‘Sawyer!’ I tried, realizing that a year without mentally speaking to my mate and husband had made me forget that I could.
I ran across the main road of the Paladin Village with Astra in my arms and waited for a reply.
‘Sawyer, I made it back! Where are you?’
There was no response. I frowned as I snaked through the village, trying to not be seen in case there were any lingering Ithaki.
Maybe he couldn’t communicate so deep underground in the bunker?
“Most of the Ithaki left after they realized the land was dead,” Astra told me softly.
I nodded, running out into the open now that I knew no more Ithaki were likely to be here. “Do you know what became of Wolf City?” I chewed on my lip, panting as I ran, trying not to jostle Astra. She was heavier than Creek obviously but still way too light. I was going to watch her eat five platefuls of food once we settled in the bunker with everyone.
Astra shook her head. “Just that it’s common ground now. All vampires, witches, fey, and trolls are allowed to live there and take what they want from there.”
My body seized at her words, and I had to consciously be aware not to squeeze her too tightly in my anger.
Common ground. One of the most territorial species on the planet now had their homeland shared by all?
Over my dead fucking body.
I pumped my legs, putting my feelers out there to try and make sense of these bonds and ties I was sensing. Rab, Arrow, Willow, Luna, Crescent, names I didn’t even know prior to today but now I knew that person, I knew they were pack. They were family. Mine.
Taking a deep breath, I focused on Rab. He felt strong, healthy, a little down, but okay.
‘You did it.’ Rab’s voice suddenly boomed in my head and I faltered, nearly tripping over my own feet.
‘Rab!’
‘Alpha.’
A whimper left my throat at his declaration, the respect in his voice.
‘I told you I would make it, you bastard,’ I teased. ‘Hey, how can we talk?’
‘You’re my alpha. I’m pack. You can speak into any Paladin’s mind you want now, and them into yours.’
Whoa. Like a real wolf pack … Sawyer couldn’t do that.
‘Did Sage make it to the bunker? Is that where you are? Are she and my baby safe?’
I had to slow down, I was getting winded.
‘Yes. She said you were on your way with Astra. Gave us all a shock coming in with a baby… congrats…’
I chuckled. Yeah, it was weird, I’d give him that. ‘Thanks, are my parents okay? Sawyer? Is he happy about the baby?’
Truth be told, I was a bit nervous to just drop the “I had your baby in the woods bomb” on my husband.
‘Everything is fine down here, but it’s not safe for you to just barge into Wolf City. I’m coming with Arrow to meet you at the border and sneak you in.’
I nodded, but something he said didn’t add up.
Rab and Arrow were coming out to meet me, not Sawyer. There was no reality in which Sawyer would know I was back and not come out to meet me. Unless maybe he was with the baby, but why could Rab answer me and not Sawyer?
‘Rab … where is Sawyer?’ I clutched Astra in my arms, noticing that she’d fallen asleep on my chest. Poor thing needed food and rest.
‘Slight complication with that, but I’ll explain everything when you get down here. Don’t worry.’
Okay … as much as I wanted to push him, force him as his alpha to tell me, I also trusted him and he was being very nonchalant … so it couldn’t be that bad.
Right?
Unless Sawyer was in a coma, nearly beaten to death, and that’s why he couldn’t answer me!
‘Sawyer, I’m back,’ I tried again, but got nothing, felt nothing. Our bond was completely shut down.
I realized then that I loved Sawyer so much it hurt. It had reached that point of no return, where if something catastrophic happened to him I would never be the same. Shoving those negative thoughts down, I ran, scouting the woods for Ithaki or vampires.
‘We are at the hedge that surrounds the school and touches the border,’ Rab told me.
‘Hey, Alpha,’ Arrow chimed in, and I grinned.
‘Hey, meet you soon,’ I told Arrow.
Sterling Hill, or what was left of it, was always surrounded by large, leafy, green privacy hedges. They went for as far as the eye could see around the multiacre property. If they were hiding near there, then I’d know about where to meet them, assuming I remembered the way. I’d been running through the Wild Lands, parallel to Wolf City, but I was far enough in the woods that I couldn’t really see where I was in relation to Wolf City. Had I passed Sawyer’s parents’ house yet? Or what was left of it? I felt like I’d been running forever with Astra in my arms. Deciding to risk cutting closer to have a peek, I slowed and peered through the trees. What I saw stole my breath.
I’d found Sterling Hill and … it was gone. All of it. Gone.
The campus where I’d found my freedom, where I’d fallen in love with Sawyer, where I’d gotten to study photography, it was flattened. The only way I recognized it was from the position of the rubble and the parking lots and pathways.
Shadows walked along the paths, and I held my breath when I realized they were vampires. I could tell by the supernaturally fast way they walked. The sun was still high in the sky, which was typically vampire sleeping time. It meant they were taking caffeine pills to stay awake and patrol.
If they smelled me, or my power, we were screwed big ti—
“Alpha!” Rab whisper-screamed.
My head snapped to the hedge nearest me and I broke into a run. Crossing through the final stretch of Wild Lands trees, I burst over the flag line and then out into the open for a split second before running vampire fast into the hedge.
I quickly learned the hedge was an illusion. It was hollow inside, with a chicken wire cage. The hedge was actually creeper vines that grew around the cage so thickly you could barely see inside.
Genius. Whichever alpha had built the bunker had thought of everything, including this escape tunnel.
“Here you go.” Rab held the cuffs Sawyer had given me as an engagement gift, and then took Astra from my arms, stroking her hair and face gently.
I’d forgotten about the cuffs. Seeing them gave me a visceral reaction at first, but then I reminded myself I could take them on and off at will. Slipping them on, I nodded to them.
“We tried to go back for her, snuck out many times, but—” Rab’s voice croaked as he looked down at sleeping Astra in his arms.
I placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. She needs some fluids and food, but she’ll be okay.”
Arrow bowed deeply to me, Rab did the same, clutching Astra to his chest.
“It’s our honor to have you lead us, Alpha,” Rab said.
Emotion clogged my throat. We were in a six-foot-tall, four-foot-wide hedge. This was not an ideal space for bowing, but they did it anyway.
“Thank you.”
When they stood, they turned and started to walk deeper into the hedge, toward where I assumed the bunker was.
“Where is Sawyer?” I asked again, deciding this time to be more insistent no matter what he said.
“Shhh… will tell you inside. Vampires.” Rab pointed to the hedge wall, and I chewed on my lip.
He was delaying… which meant it was bad.
If Sawyer was dead, I would feel it, right? I mean we were mates, imprinted. I would feel it…
Panic suddenly gripped me.
“He’s alive, right?” I blurted out in a whisper-scream.
“He’s alive,” Arrow answered.
I nearly sagged with relief.
Then what’s the big deal? I wanted to blurt out, but instead I followed them on through the tunnel. I just wanted to see my mom, and my baby, and Sawyer. We ran inside of the hollow hedge for what seemed like forever, until finally the boys stopped. There was a crouched figure up ahead, sitting cross-legged on the ground before a giant set of storm doors.
‘How the hell did Sage find this place?’ I asked Rab.
‘We keep a scout out here twenty-four hours a day. She blew up a fey’s car to create a distraction and the scout saw her and brought her in.’
Blew up a fey’s car. That sounded like Sage.
I was just glad she and Creek were safe.
As we approached, the scout stood, and I was relieved to recognize someone. Quan, one of Sawyer’s closest friends.
He nodded to me, and wordlessly opened the storm doors, careful to be as quiet as possible to reveal a set of steep stairs.
As Arrow passed Quan, they did a bro fist bump and it warmed my heart to see the Paladin and city wolves working together so nicely. Rab looked back at me and caught me smiling at the two of them.
‘Don’t get excited. Not everyone here gets along. There have been fights to the death, and you are coming into an angry, hungry group of wolves who feel abandoned by their leaders. Prepare to prove yourself, Alpha.’
His words shocked the shit out of me.
Prove myself? I just fucking did that for the past year in the woods, alone. Hungry? Didn’t they have enough food? Sawyer said there was enough for two years or something. I followed him down the steps, what must have been thirty feet, and the storm doors shut above us. When we reached the flat open room, two lights flickered on the walls to reveal a giant, circular airlock.
I was still stuck on Rab’s warning. Abandoned? He said the wolves felt abandoned by their leaders. “Wait, why would they feel abandoned? Sawyer has been here with them the whole time, right?”
Rab stopped, handing off Astra to Arrow. “Get her to medical,” he said, and the vault door opened with a hiss. Through the crack in the door I saw a giant concrete hallway. My mom held Creek, feeding him a bottle, and Sage had her arm around Raven. They were both talking to my dad, waiting to greet us.
A smile pulled at my mouth, and I went to step forward, forgetting all about my earlier question, when Rab stopped me, and let the vault door close again.
I looked up into his deep blue eyes and he took a steady breath. “Alpha, I regret to inform you—”
I put up a hand. “Don’t be so formal with me, Rab. Just tell me. What happened to Sawyer?”
I steeled myself, preparing for some godawful news about my mate. He was paralyzed, maimed, kidnapped.
Rab swallowed hard. “A month after you left, Sawyer was found guilty of murdering the prince of Vampire City, Vicon Drake. He was captured and taken to Magic City Prison.”
The room spun and I staggered backward as the air whooshed out of me. “No.”
“You weren’t there to testify to the claim of … sexual assault … and they had Sawyer’s DNA all over the crime scene.”
No! I broke down into sobs, my back slamming against the concrete wall as I slid into a sitting position. Sawyer, my Sawyer, in prison for almost a year because he was enacting justice on a sick soul and doing honor in my name. My breaths came out in short, ragged gasps, and I knew I was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack.
Rab knelt down before me, meeting my gaze. “Now that you’re back, we will figure this out.”
I nodded, wiping my cheeks. “Where is Magic City Prison? Light Fey Territory?” I moved to stand and he backed up, putting his hands out.
“Yes, but—”
“I need to break him out. He’s all alone in there, and—” Another sob threatened to take hold of me again.
Rab placed a hand on my shoulder. “We have serious issues you need to deal with here first. We’re low on food. There was a mold contamination and we lost half of our supply early on. Also the air filter just broke which we rely on for fresh oxygen. Then there is the issue with heating and cooling, which keeps going out. We need an exit plan, Demi. We can’t live down here forever. People are getting stir crazy and going topside and disappearing, or winding up dead.”
Oh God.
Okay. Focus, Demi. One thing at a time.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “The Paladin land is healed. I saw it with my own eyes. You can move everyone there, rebuild and fortify the city while I go looking for Sawyer. I can’t leave him in there alone.”
“He’s not alone,” Rab told me. “The day after he got taken away, Walsh murdered the vampire king and then confessed to everything on tape so that he would be taken with Sawyer.”
I blinked at him, stunned, unsure I’d heard him right.
“Say what?”
Rab nodded. “The vampire king is dead. Only the queen is left and she rules everything. Walsh is with Sawyer in the Magic City Prison so he can keep an eye on him.”
Holy shit. Thank you, Walsh! That made me feel slightly better, but only slightly. Now I had two people to rescue.
Rab placed a hand on my shoulder. “Our people need to hear you tell them that the Paladin land is safe to go home to. That you found the cave and were found worthy and we can grow fresh food and prosper again. We need a leader.”
He was right. Dammit, he was so right.
Okay.
I shook myself, preparing to live up to my promise and lead my people, lead Sawyer’s people too, I guess. “Okay, a few days to sort things here, then I’m going to break Sawyer and Walsh out.”
Rab nodded. “I heard your wolf can walk through walls? Sounds like a handy trick when wanting to break into a prison.”
I grinned as a calmness settled over me.
I was going to get my hubby back. We would have our happily-ever-after, damn it!
