After a few deep breaths, Rab opened the steel vault door, and after a whoosh of air I was welcomed by a small contingent of close friends and family. Raven, my parents, Sawyer’s mom, Sage, the baby, Eugene, Arrow, Willow and her baby, they all stood smiling at me, and my heart felt so full in that moment I almost forgot about all of my troubles.
Almost.
“Alpha.” Willow nodded, stepping forward, holding a baby girl who looked about six months old. I instantly smelled the humanness on her, and my heart pinched with regret.
“Willow, I’m so sor—”
“Isn’t she perfect?” Willow smiled at me, stroking the baby’s dark hair.
I caught myself. Why would I apologize for a healthy human baby? There were plenty of people who would kill for one of those. As I stared at the child, I realized she was right. She was perfect. Ten fingers and ten toes. We’d been wrong before to worry about all the children born without wolves.
“She’s absolutely perfect,” I agreed, my throat tightening.
“And she’ll have a playmate.” Willow looked at my mom, who was watching me with eyes that brimmed over with tears.
“Oh, honey, you had a baby without me,” my mom croaked, stepping forward. Sawyer’s mom stood beside her. She was beaming as she looked down at Creek, who looked so much like Sawyer that it made me sad sometimes to look at him.
I rushed toward my mom, opening my arms and smooshing her in a hug. Creek was pressed between us, sucking the nipple of a plastic bottle and probably wondering what this plastic thing was. He’d never seen plastic. Or the white cotton diaper he was wearing, or the clean yellow onesie. He looked … like a city wolf. I enjoyed learning to live off the land, but something about disposable diapers just made everything seem right with the world.
Sawyer’s mom stood near us, shifting awkwardly like she wanted to say something but wasn’t sure what. Reaching one arm out, I pulled her into the hug with my mom, making it a three-way.
“I hope it’s okay I gave him a bottle,” my mom fumbled as she pulled back from our group hug. “He was crying and you weren’t here and—”
I smiled. “It’s fine. I’m just not used to diapers and clothes and stuff.”
Wow, where had my social skills gone?
My mom looked at my skimpy suede dress, unshaven legs, and the hunting knife strapped to my thigh, and nodded. “Well, whatever you’re comfortable with, dear. I can change him back into the rabbit fur if—”
I laughed, and so did Sage, who stood behind my mom. If I never had to skin another rabbit it would be fine by me.
“Normal clothes are fine,” I assured her. When the time was right, I would teach my baby to live off the land too, but some city luxuries were awesome to have in the meantime.
Sawyer’s mom reached out and gently touched Creek’s forehead. “I’ll have to show you a baby picture of Sawyer. I grabbed a few before the evacuation…” She shook off the memory. “They look so much alike.”
I nodded. “I’d like that. Also, I wanted to tell you. His full name is Creek Curt Calloway-Hudson.”
Her breath hitched, and then tears spilled over onto her cheeks. “I love that.”
I smiled, trying to keep from crying myself. “It has a nice ring to it.”
Without warning, she reached out and pulled me in for another hug. “Sawyer always talked about having kids one day. He would be so proud.”
Would be…
He wasn’t gone yet. She’d already given up hope?
I nodded into her shoulder, trying not to get too emotional. It was all so overwhelming. “I’m going to get him back. Don’t worry.”
My dad had been silently watching me the entire time. “They say you’re their alpha now?” He slung an arm around my mother, looking from Rab to Arrow. Poor guy seemed confused by the whole thing. Could I blame him?
Something stirred within me at my father’s words.
Anger. Why?
Because I wasn’t just the alpha of the Paladins. With Sawyer gone, I’d need to be the leader of both packs until he could return, something I didn’t think they would like but was necessary.
“I’m everyone’s alpha now, Dad.” I tipped my chin up, and Eugene, who was standing next to my father, gave me a maniacal grin.
“Until Sawyer is back, I’m your alpha too, and I’m going to have to make some hard decisions so I can get us all out of here and back topside.” Then I popped on my toes and kissed his stunned cheek. “Missed you, Dad.”
My dad looked shocked at my declaration. My mom too. But I didn’t care. That’s the way things were going to be. We needed one leader to unite us all or there was no way we were going to survive and eventually take Wolf City back.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Raven squeaked beside me, and I yanked my bestie into a hug. When my arms wrapped around her, the earthy scent of magic and spell work surrounded me and I felt like I was home, back in my parents’ apartment in Spokane while Raven and I giggled about cute boys at Delphi when we were thirteen.
“Missed you the most,” I whispered.
I had barely seen my bestie since the day I left Delphi well over a year ago.
When we pulled apart, we both wiped at our eyes.
“You look badass, and slightly horrifying, like you eat raw cockroaches for breakfast,” she told me, which caused me to burst out laughing.
“Hey, if you’re hungry enough…” I shrugged and she smiled.
Eugene was next, pulling me in for a big bear hug.
“Sorry I couldn’t protect Sawyer better. They had a tracker on the ankle bracelet and he didn’t want to lead them into the bunker. He also didn’t want to leave you,” he murmured in my ear.
My heart thumped against my chest at that. That was Sawyer, sacrificing for those he loved. “You did fine. We’ll get him back. I have a plan.” I didn’t really have a plan, but I was going to get him back. That was the plan. At all costs.
He pulled away from me and nodded, but I could see the shame written on his face.
Rab came to my side. “So the rumor mill started the second that all of the Paladin felt you claim the magic. The city wolves want to speak with you … and they are not pleased.”
Not pleased?
I looked down at my dirty unshaven legs, knowing I had blood on my chin from my broken nose which seemed to have already healed, and as much as I wanted to shower right now, it might benefit me to be seen like this. You didn’t fuck with people who looked like they’d just walked out of the bush and knew how to gut a bunny rabbit, right? Like Raven said, I looked like I ate cockroaches for breakfast. That was an advantage in my opinion.
“Lead the way,” I told him.
Arrow flanked my left, Rab my right, and Sage stepped up behind me.
“Mom, can you watch baby Creek for a bit?”
She nodded, her eyes brimming with tears.
I gave her a small, tired smile and followed Rab and Arrow. “Astra is getting treatment?” I asked Arrow.
He nodded. “Doctor says it’s severe dehydration and malnutrition. It’s keeping her from healing. She’ll be good as new by tomorrow.”
The tension I didn’t realize I was holding relaxed a little then. We walked down a long hallway and Rab cleared his throat. “Alpha, you should know that the city wolves have been talking for some time about escaping Magic City altogether and going to live in the human world undercover.”
Sage gasped behind me. “Hugely against the rules unless banished, and even then only in Delphi and restricted areas of Spokane.”
I didn’t know the rules but that sounded about right. We couldn’t have thousands of wolves running around Washington State and beyond.
“Not to mention the humans in the supernatural hunter societies. They regulate that sort of thing,” Rab agreed. “I have told them this and they don’t care. They want fresh air and food.”
Human hunters in the supernatural what now? I’d heard rumors of them at Delphi but had never seen one. They were some uber religious Catholic group who were hell bent on wiping the “evil” out of the world. I thought they were a myth.
I tipped my chin to him. “And they’ll get their fresh air and food. In Paladin Village where we will all go together, as one pack.”
Rab smirked, Arrow too.
I didn’t care anymore about what anyone thought. The Dark Woods had freed me of all that shit. I wanted my people safe, and then I was going to get my man.
As we approached a large set of metal double doors that read mess hall, I could hear muffled shouting.
Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself and then nodded to Rab, who opened the door.
I was assaulted with a barrage of smells first: stale food, musty indoor wetness, and the general stench of too many people packed in one room. Then the sounds hit me. Angry screaming and yelling, mostly male voices, as I took in the scene before me.
There were thousands of people in this giant central room. It was a huge rectangle with a cafeteria kitchen on either side, and an area where you slid your tray along to pick up food. Behind the glass were some workers wearing hairnets and serving what looked like gloppy, nasty food. The tables in the middle of the room were giant. Each one sitting at least a hundred people.
They still hadn’t noticed my entrance. “How many people do we have down here in the bunker?” I asked Rab.
“Roughly eight thousand Paladin, and about double that in city wolves.”
That sounded like too little. Twenty-four thousand people. The rest must have died.
But I didn’t have the heart to ask.
“We have four mess halls and we eat at staggered times,” Rab informed me. “The bunker is three stories. Living on base level, eating and exercise and medical on mid-level where we are now, and offices and supplies and engineering on top level.”
Wow.
“Is there a way I can speak to everyone?”
Rab nodded, walking over to the wall and punching in a code. It seemed he’d been given some kind of leader status here, and that made me proud. Probably Eugene’s doing. Rab pulled a handheld PA mic off a hook on the wall and approached me.
“You’re live throughout the entire bunker,” he said, handing me the mic.
Say what now? Shit, I wasn’t good at speeches. That was Sawyer’s department.
I cleared my throat, watching people argue and scream at each other.
“Settle down!” I shouted boldly, and my voice projected throughout the speakers on the wall.
“I am Demi Spirit Moon Calloway-Hudson, Sawyer Hudson’s wife and your new alpha,” I declared confidently.
There was a ring of cheers from the Paladins present, but mostly boos from the city wolves.
I ignored the boos. “I’ve just been debriefed on the situation here. And I’m proud to report that the Paladin Village land has been healed and is free of enemies. We can escape there and set up a new temporary village for everyone while I go and get Sawyer and Walsh.”
More cheers mixed with only a few boos.
“We will have fresh water, food, and air there … daily sunshine, and we can function as one pack.” I yelled the last two lines for emphasis.
Silence descended over the crowd. I wondered what the other people in this place were thinking, hearing my voice coming out of the wall and stating all of this.
A man who I didn’t recognize stepped forward and sneered. He was a city wolf, about mid-thirties, and looked like he’d seen better days. He had that wild, don’t-fuck-with-me-I-might-be-a-felon, look—shaved head, hooded gaze, and rough skin. “You left us in this concrete hell for a year, and Sawyer got dragged away for protecting you. So who says you’re in charge now?” He spit on the floor at my feet, and Rab moved forward to probably punch him, but Sage held him back.
She knew I could handle this myself.
I had zero time or patience for this bullshit.
Reaching into the thigh holster on my leg, I pulled my blade and gave this bastard what I hoped was the craziest look I could muster.
“I say so. Your alpha’s wife, the mother of his child.” People gasped in surprise at that. “And if you have a problem with that, you can fight me. Winner takes the pack.” Then I growled, low and with warning, and I knew my eyes had flashed yellow, because my wolf was so close to the surface I had to make effort to restrain her.
The Paladin wolves in the room roared their approval, jumping up onto the tabletops or pounding their open palms onto it like it was a drum. The man’s nostrils flared as he looked over my face and then he lowered his head in defeat. Maybe it was my confidence, maybe it was the fact that he didn’t want to fight a woman, or maybe it was the crazy look in my eye and blood on my face mixed with war paint, but the dude stepped back.
“There is no one pack!” someone cried from deep in the crowd. “There is them and us!” he roared and too many people cried out in approval of his comment for my liking.
Paladin wolves might be “savages” by city wolves thinking, but I just didn’t care, I liked being a savage. I liked knowing how to catch and cut up my own food, how to live off the land. I liked being alpha, and no one was taking from me what was rightfully mine. I’d worked too hard for it.
I stepped forward, holding the PA mic to my lips. “I just spent a year in the woods. Lost, living off the land. I gave birth to Sawyer’s son out there with no hospital and no medication. I gave myself to that mountain, to the land, and to my people, and I was found worthy of being alpha, so I dare any one of you that disagrees with that choice to speak up now. You’ll end up rotting in this underground tomb, because anyone who leaves is leaving as a part of my pack!”
Then I dropped the mic into Rab’s outstretched hand and the group went wild, chanting alpha, alpha, alpha.
Most of them did anyway, some were stony silent. I knew it would take time for old ways of thinking to be broken down, but I wasn’t going to have a mutiny on my hands. If anyone wanted to live topside and be offered protection and life at Paladin Village, they were going to play by my damn rules.
“Is there enough room for all of us there?” someone screamed out over the yelling. A female voice.
I yelled loudly so that my voice could carry across the entire space. “We will make room. The Paladins don’t depend on grocery stores to feed them and construction companies to build their houses. We will widen the village and build more houses. We can extend the farm crops too. Everyone will have an equal part sharing jobs. And then when I get back with Sawyer, we will get Wolf City back too.”
That brought a chorus of cheers from each side. I didn’t know what they had been through in my absence, but I could see their faces now held something I was proud to give them.
Hope.
I looked at Rab and lowered my voice. “I need Eugene and you, and any other leaders, in a room for war council briefing. But first I want to shower.”
He nodded and we left the room as they were still cheering. I’d been stuck in the woods for a year and they’d been stuck down here. It was very much the same type of situation, and I was about to liberate them and bring them home.
Then I was focusing all of my energy on getting Sawyer and Walsh out of prison.
We exited the mess hall, and my mom and Raven were there holding and cooing at Creek. I slowed my approach and my mom held him out to me. Taking him in my arms, I gave him a little snuggle and kissed the top of his head. He craned his neck into my chest, searching for my boobs. My boobs hurt; they felt rock hard, full of milk, and I knew nothing about how to dry them out, but I did know that I was raised on formula and I turned out okay. If I wanted to go after Sawyer and be fighting a war to regain Wolf City, I was going to have to take trips away from my baby and stop breastfeeding.
“Mommy has to go plan a big escape. Can you stay with Grandma and Auntie Raven a little longer?” I asked Creek.
“Of course!” my mom and Raven said simultaneously.
I looked up at mom. “Mom, how do I … dry out the girls? Assuming we have enough formula in stock?” I pointed to my chest.
She nodded in understanding, cheeks reddening as Rab and Arrow suddenly turned their backs on us to give us privacy.
“We have more than enough, and I know it’s a tough decision, but I think given your situation, it might be best. You just stop. It will be painful, and you can hand express to get a little relief, but naturally you will dry up.”
My throat tightened in emotion at the thought of just stopping breastfeeding; it had become so natural to me. Definitely freaked me out in the beginning, but then it was this amazing thing that kept my kid alive.
I nodded, kissing Creek’s head, and handed him back to her.
“It’s best if someone else bottle feeds him until you dry out so he doesn’t smell your milk. Is it okay if I take over the feedings?” my mom asked.
Emotion welled up inside of me, a deep sadness that Creek wouldn’t need me as much for survival anymore, but I knew this was for the best given our current situation.
I just nodded. “Thanks, Mom,” I croaked. “Thanks, Raven,” I added, and pulled my bestie in for a hug.
She squeezed me hard. “I love you, but you smell.”
I burst into laughter and pulled back with a smile.
“Please tell me we have hot water here,” Sage called out behind me.
Rab nodded. “This way. I’ll show you the lavatories.”
Thirty minutes later, every square inch of my body had been scrubbed with a coconut vanilla, yummy-smelling soap and I’d shaved off all of my body hair. I scrubbed my scalp so hard it hurt, massaging my hand all the way to the ends with the sudsy soap. The conditioner was heaven; my hair had never felt so smooth.
“Holy crap, that was…” Sage looked at me wide-eyed with her bright red hair tied up into a damp knot. She was wearing some military-issued black fatigues, same as me, and we stood in the locker room style shower staring at each other with our newfound cleanness.
“Pretty amazing.” I grinned.
Sage smiled, but then her face fell a little. “I mean … not as pretty as hearing the bubbling creek after you stepped out of the shower and looking onto the thick forest.”
We both stared at the concrete walls with dismay.
“No. It’s not,” I agreed. I would always have a love-hate relationship with the Dark Woods. They made me realize I needed nature, but also kept me from those that I loved. We brushed our teeth and flossed, and then stepped out to find Arrow waiting for us.
“Meeting is this way. We’ve got Rab, Eugene, and then Star. She’s the leader of the defector witches. And also Rick. He’s the representative of the Independent Society of Werewolves.”
I stopped and stared at Arrow with my mouth hung open. “The what?”
That was good that we had some witches in here with us. I was going to need magical help, but Independent Society of Werewolves? What the hell was that?
Arrow sighed. “They formed after Sawyer was taken. They claim to need nor have no leader, nor follow any laws, and just want to exist harmoniously and not take sides with anyone.”
I snorted. “That’s fucking convenient.” This Rick character was about to get his ass handed to him, because I wasn’t in the mood for a bunch of freeloaders.
Arrow stopped in front of a large metal door and pulled it open, ushering us inside. Sage and I stepped into the dimly lit room, and I couldn’t help but feel like I’d just walked into a coffin. The entire feeling of being underground was suffocating.
The four leaders sat around a metal table, and quieted as I approached.
Eugene and Rab nodded to me in respect and I did so in return. Then I focused on the witch. Her long black hair was dyed purple at the tips, and she was younger than I expected. She looked about my age. Her fingernails were extra long and bright lime green, and she wore a flowing black dress that skimmed the floor.
“Hi, I’m Demi. Alpha of the werewolves.” I extended my hand to her.
“Star, leader of the Witches’ Revolution.” She took my hand and shook it with a firm grasp, which I liked. I also liked that she led the Witches’ Revolution.
“Happy to have you here,” I told her, then I narrowed my eyes on the giant man who sat with his arms crossed over his chest, making his biceps pop. He was in his late forties and wore a white crisp linen top with some kind of crystal shard around his neck. He smelled of patchouli oil and indecision, and I immediately didn’t like him.
“Hi. Rick, is it?” I pinned him with a direct gaze. “I’ve been informed the Independent Society of Werewolves has no leader and no laws, so you can leave now.”
His mouth popped open, and Star, who sat next to him, grinned.
“It’s true we don’t believe in hierarchy, or a chain of command, but I was assured we would be respected in the decision-making process of what happens to this community as a whole.” He looked at me like I was a savage, and for some reason it pleased me.
Leaning forward, pressing both palms to the table, I stared him down. “This is a room for leaders. This is a room for people who are about to decide how to end a war. This is a room for men and women who make hard decisions that later their people will benefit from. You are not that person. Go. Now.”
He stood so fast his chair skidded backward, the metal scraping against the concrete so loud that it made my skin crawl. I missed the sounds of the birds and the bubbling creek right now.
“This is why we don’t want leaders. You’re all bullies,” he snapped.
He moved to step past me, and I snaked to the right, lining up to block his path so that he was forced to stare me down. “When we leave, you’re welcome to come and follow my command and my rules. Or you can stay and see how long the food lasts down here. It’s your choice.”
He swallowed hard, nervousness crawling into his features, then I stepped aside and he left the room.
It was a bad way to start a new leadership position, but I was inheriting a shitty situation in which I had to act extra hardcore now so I wouldn’t be challenged later. After what Rab told me had been going on in my absence, it was necessary. Sawyer wasn’t here, so I was going to have to lead two packs and take no shit lest I have complete chaos on my hands.
“Sorry about that,” I told everyone left in our group. “I just want to make sure that later on down the line, everything runs smoothly and there are no freeloaders. It’s going to take a lot of work to fit everyone in Paladin Village and live off the land.”
Rab nodded and so did Eugene.
“Witches are fine with hard work. We just want sunshine and fresh air,” Star said. “How can we help?”
I relaxed, grateful to have her so easily committing to hard work. “Rab, how did you get the thousands of Paladins in here without being seen or smelled? We’re going to need to get everyone out. Probably over multiple days, hopefully without anyone knowing until we are all back on Paladin land and in a strong place to protect ourselves.”
Rab nodded to Star. “Star and her coven helped. They did a spell that masked scent and sound, and we snuck people in through the hedge in the dead of night.”
The hedge was a godsend, but twenty-four thousand people was a lot. “We have a lot of people to get out, and I’d like to do it over a maximum of two days. I don’t think the vampires will care to even go into the Wild Lands. It’s the Ithaki we will have to contend with.”
Eugene nodded. “I can attest that most of the Magic City territories avoid the Wild Lands. As long as we lay low in Paladin Village, they probably won’t even notice we are there.”
Sage cleared her throat behind me. I’d totally forgotten she was even here. “Do the vampires know that a bunch of us survived?” she asked.
Great question.
Eugene nodded. “We overheard them saying there weren’t enough dead bodies to have gotten all of us. They know we are hiding somewhere.”
Rab tipped his head. “And you’re sure it’s safe to go back? The fungus is gone? We can grow food again? Clean water?”
I smiled, reaching out to squeeze his hand. “I promise.” I couldn’t explain my experience in the cave if I tried. Someone would have me committed. But I saw the land heal before my eyes, Astra too. “It’s time to go home,” I assured him.
“I saw it on my way out,” Sage piped up behind me again. “Green grass all growing back, fields showed new growth too.” Her voice held pride.
Why was she still standing? Did she not think she had permission to sit or something? I pulled out a chair next to me and patted the seat. “Oh, by the way, Sage is my second-in-command. You can bring any concerns you have to her and she’ll get them to me.”
Rab bristled for a second, maybe thinking I would give the honor to him, but she pulled a baby from my vagina and we’d been through hell together, so it was always going to be her. My ride or die.
“Alright.” Rab cleared his throat.
“Fine by me,” Star added.
“Welcome to the leaders’ table.” Eugene winked at her.
I looked up to see her swallow hard, frozen like a deer in headlights. Pulling on her wrist, I yanked her into the seat and carried on.
“The second we get everyone to Paladin Village, I want to build up security first. A huge fence, patrols, and lookouts. That goes before our comforts, understood?”
They all nodded.
“And then when I feel we are settled and safe, I will take Sage and leave to get Sawyer. Leaving you three in charge while I’m gone. Can you handle that?”
Rab puffed up his chest a little at that and they all nodded at the same time.
“Okay…” I cracked my knuckles. “Give me every idea you have on how to get us all out of here in the shortest amount of time without tipping off the vampires. I don’t want them knowing how many of us are left. Best to surprise them with that later, when we take back Wolf City.”
Over the next hour, everyone shouted out wild ideas while Sage scribbled them down furiously and we tore each one apart for weak points. The witches were low on supplies for spell casting and needed to make a supply run if they were to shroud that many people. We decided that Sage’s crazy distraction to get her and Creek inside was actually something brilliant that could be recreated on a larger scale to draw any vampire or fey patrols away from the bunker while we snuck out. We determined even at a brisk pace it would take four hours to move twenty-four thousand people, and that’s with everyone packed and having practiced a dry run and being fully prepared.
“How do you draw someone away for over four hours…” I mused aloud. My eyes fell to the cuffs on my wrist, and then it came to me.
“They still want me,” I breathed, tracing my finger over the cuff. “What if I lead them on a wild goose chase?”
“Too dangerous,” Rab inserted.
“No way!” Sage yelled.
“You could be caught,” Eugene piped in.
Star was silent, and I looked at her.
“Aren’t you like super vampire fast and can walk through walls and stuff?” She looked at the cuffs on my wrists and I smiled. The rumor mill had gone around even in my absence.
“My wolf can walk through walls yes, and I am very fast.”
Star shrugged. “I mean if you can outrun a vampire, then I think it’s safe to say you have a great chance of not getting caught.”
She was so right. Everyone here was trying to protect me, which I admired, but what the hell was I afraid of? If I took off the cuffs and let the vamps scent me, then I could lead them on a chase while everyone got out. Then I would just put the cuffs back on when I wanted to hide again.
“What if we could get everyone out in one night? I could take off the cuffs, lead them away from the Wild Lands, and then put them back on and meet up with you.”
“Run for four hours straight! That’s too long. You’ll collapse from exhaustion.”
He was probably right, but wasn’t that what marathoners did?
“I could take them off and on as I needed breaks. I hiked the mountain in the Dark Woods every day for a nearly a year. I’m in the best shape of my life. I can do this.”
“And she can control bears!” Sage blurted out, and every person at the table’s eyes went wide.
“I’m not sure how useful that will be in the city.” I laughed.
Sage shook her head. “No. What I mean is … I think you used … compulsion. I think you could do it again on a lower-level vampire to confuse them.”
Compulsion was a myth, right? But in that moment I was reminded of the piece of paper Sawyer tore out of that book that explained split shifters. Didn’t it say they could do compulsion?
Star leaned forward, eyes wide. “You can compulse?”
I squirmed in my seat. “I mean, I did once to a bear, maybe twice, but…”
Everyone was staring at me like I was an alien.
Eugene looked intrigued. “It wouldn’t work on the queen or those high up in her coven, but a lower-level vampire for sure.”
That was good to know.
“So we’re doing this?” I asked. “One night? Get everyone out and then I’ll meet you back at Paladin Village when I know it’s safe?”
Everyone regarded each other, eyes darting around the room to find someone to disagree with.
“We can’t stay down here much longer … and getting out into the open air, building a community together, it would be good for morale,” Eugene said.
“Then it’s settled!” I smacked my open palm on the table.
“Hold up.” Rab put his fingers out in a gesture of calm. “And what’s the plan if we get caught and war breaks out again?”
He was right. We needed a fallback plan for that. “Eugene, do we still have a good weapons cache?”
He nodded. “The base level is full of them.”
“Any grenades?” I raised one eyebrow, and he nodded with a smile.
“Okay, if we get caught, you run east toward the Witch Lands and we funnel them into the Wild Lands at the border. There we will set off the grenades as a distraction, before doubling back and going back into hiding,” I told them.
“Genius.” Rab sat up. “I can set the traps tonight with Arrow. When are we doing this?”
I wanted to get to Sawyer as soon as possible. “Tomorrow night. Start preparing everyone now. One bag each person, only what they can carry, and they will line up in alphabetical order of family last name. Do a trial run in the morning of the lineup.”
“I’ll sneak out with Rab and Arrow later tonight with one of my witches and get the spell supplies needed,” Star added.
We had a plan. My first real day as alpha and I didn’t completely screw it up.
I looked at Rab. “Where is medical? I need to check on Astra.”
I needed to make sure my number one fan was okay.
Astra was lying in the fetal position on a cot in the medical ward, fast asleep. I’d spoken to the doctor who treated her, a nice submissive wolf in his late fifties. He said he’d given her IV fluids and a feeding tube for the time being, but he was confident he could take it out by morning. He just wanted to load her up with nutrients, and she was too weak to chew and swallow right now. My heart twisted in agony as I saw bones protruding from her back in her thin hospital gown. This young girl had been through hell for me, and it was important to me to take care of her from now on.
“Alpha,” she croaked, and I scrambled to the other side of her bed where I could face her. She looked up at me with heavy eyes. The doctor said he’d given her some pain medication to ease the discomfort of the feeding tube while her shifter healing kicked in.
“Astra.” I fell to my knees before her and took her small hands in mine. “I just wanted to check on you. I’m getting us out of here, back to Paladin Village, and everything is going to be okay.”
“I heard you in your despair,” she said softly, eyes closing in exhaustion. I frowned, confused.
“What?”
She blinked a few times as if her eyelids were too heavy to hold up. “In the Dark Woods, when you were at your lowest point and you cried out to God. I heard it.”
Chills raced up my spine. I didn’t know if she was being serious or just high as a kite. But there was one night, on my third day there, before I found the cabin, that I was starving, thirsty, and helpless, and I’d screamed at the sky, aiming my desperation at the man upstairs.
“I knew you would come back. I knew you would make it. And now everything is going to be fine.” She smiled, her eyes rolling closed as she fell asleep, the steady rise and fall of her chest making me sleepy as well.
I wondered what it was like to live with that much blind faith in something. I wasn’t capable of it, but she clearly was. Faith in me, in God, in everything. This small thing had more faith than our entire pack combined, and I wasn’t going to let her down.
Leaning forward, I placed a kiss on her cheek and made a promise to make the world a safer and better place for people like Astra.
Sleeping next to little Creek, all snuggled in a soft bed with real blankets and pillows, was heaven. Sage slept above us on the top bunk of a shared room. Rab said he could arrange for me to have some fancy captain’s quarters and kick a family out that was sharing it, but I insisted I be treated like everyone else. It was only for one night anyway, and I didn’t think Sage and I were ready to live separate lives just yet. We hadn’t said it out loud, but we’d both become each other’s support and comfort person over our time in the Dark Woods. Coming back to reality was nice, but also a shock. We needed to ease into it.
Creek nursed once in the night, but my mom came and took him in the morning to bottle feed him, and after a large breakfast we went over the drill with the entire bunker. We had them all line up in alphabetical order based on family last name.
And … it was a total shitshow.
Rab had drawn letters on paper, A through Z, and taped them along the hallways, but we’d underestimated how many of each letter there were and people with A last name were lined up all the way into C, which meant C was pushing to move up. It didn’t go well, but we’d adjusted where the letters were, and I had faith that tonight it would work. It had to.
“Knock, knock,” Raven called into the war room as I peered up from the Wolf City maps I was looking at.
I grinned at the sight of my bestie. We’d had no time to catch up, and yet a friendship this old and close made it feel like not even a day had gone by since we’d last talked.
“Hey.” I waved her in and she gave me a quick hug before settling next to me and looking at the maps.
“I heard about your plan to lead the vampires on a chase and I came up with an idea.” She pulled out a small baggy of tiny plastic cap looking things.
“What are those?” I inspected them.
She pulled out a cap and broke off the top to reveal a thin, barely visible needle. “Diabetic needles to test blood sugar. We use them in spell work when we need only a tiny drop of blood.”
Modern day witch tools. I guess it beat cutting your palm open like in the movies.
“I was thinking … in order to get the vampires to scent you and follow a coordinated trail, you could prick your finger with the cuffs off and leave blood somewhere. Then run away from that place and put the cuffs back on. Then repeat this for a few hours until Rab signals that we are all out.”
I grinned. “Raven, that’s genius!”
The blood would be like vampire candy, and make it stronger and easier for them to scent me, allowing me to bring them exactly where I wanted them.
She pulled her nails up to her mouth and huffed on them, before buffing them off on her shoulder. “I mean, no biggie.” She winked.
Reaching out, I took her hand in mine. “You’ve been such a good friend. It’s hard to believe over a year ago we were going to Delphi, and now…”
She nodded, squeezing my hand. “I know.”
We sat there for a moment in the dimly lit and quiet room until finally she stood. “I gotta pack my bag. Excited to get out of here and back into nature.” She looked around at the concrete walls.
I nodded and she turned to leave.
“Hey, Raven?”
She spun to face me.
“I know I’ve been gone and we haven’t had much time to catch up, but…” My voice cracked.
She grinned and tears lined her eyes. “Love you too, babe.”
I chuckled, she always knew what I was going to say.
She left the room, and I tucked the finger pokers into my pocket. I was going to pack a small bag of protein bars and water and then get ready for my night of running.
Of being prey.
