As soon as daylight arrived, we hit the streets and showed my ceremony’s group photo with Nina in it.
‘Excuse me, sir, have you seen this girl?’
‘No, sorry.’
‘Excuse me, miss, have you seen this girl?’
‘No, I haven’t.’
We are just about to call it a day when an older lady looks harder at the photo.
‘I haven’t seen the girl you are looking for, but I have seen him.’ She says, pointing to Moss standing behind Nina in the photo.
‘Are you sure? When and where did you see him?’ I ask.
‘Moss, I think his name is. He is the future Alpha of a pack of ruthless, mongrel rogues.’
‘He’s a future Alpha?’ I say, in complete shock.
‘Yes, his mother is well known around here too, and not for good reasons either. Their pack members are always stealing from all the surrounding towns and villages. They have even kidnapped she-wolves and force mateships between those she-wolves and their rogues.’
May, Leon, and I look at each other in shock at what we are hearing.
‘We have to tell Alpha Ryker.’ Leon says and mind-links him immediately.
‘Where does the pack live?’ I ask.
‘They live in the woods amongst caves that link. It’s about a one-hour drive south from here.’
A few she-wolves walk past us giggling, and one winks at me.
‘Shoo, shoo!’ May yells and chases after them.
I try not to laugh, but I appreciate her scaring them away. Finding my mate is the last thing on my mind. The only thing that could make me truly happy right now is finding Nina and bringing her back home.
‘Alpha Ryker said he will organise Warriors from packs near here to help us free Nina and any other She-wolves he has.’
‘That could take hours, days even!’ I growl. ‘We need to go now.’
The woman laughs.
‘Finding her isn’t as simple as it sounds. First, you will need to bring someone with you that knows where their hidden traps are and which caves are the right ones to go through. You will be lost forever if you go down the wrong cave.’ she cackles.
‘Couldn’t you come with us?’ May asks.
‘I could, but I might be growing too old for these adventures.’
May looks her up and down and takes her arm.
‘You don’t look a day over fifty-nine she smiles. ‘Now hop in. You’re coming with us.’ May says.
‘What’s your name?’ I ask.
‘Mabel.’ She smiles.
‘I’m…’
‘Magnus, May, and Leon. Am I right?’
‘How do you know that?’
Mabel ignores my question and points up ahead.
‘Take the second left from there.’ She says.
Leon takes the left turn and drives for roughly twenty more minutes.
‘The rest of the way will have to be on foot. No car gets through those trees.’ She says, pointing towards the woods.
May grabs a backpack from the car and puts a few snack bars and bottles of water inside.
‘Alpha Ryker wants us to wait for backup.’ Leon says.
‘We need to find Nina at least and assess the situation. If it’s not safe, we will wait for backup.’ I say.
Everyone nods.
Once we enter the woods, Mabel picks up a thick, long branch.
‘You will all need one of these.’ She says.
‘What for?’ Leon asks as she uses it in front of her as if she were blind. We hear a snap sound; she pauses.
‘This is why.’ She smiles.
A log tied to rope comes swinging down, missing Mabel by inches.
‘Woah!’ May says.
‘Use the branches to activate any traps. Stop as soon as you hear any sound, step back until the trap is active. Then you can continue around it.’
‘Clever.’ Leon says, finding himself and May a branch.
I look around and take a perfectly placed branch off the ground. As I pick it up, I’m yanked back by the old lady just as wooden spikes pop up from the ground in front of me.
‘Not that branch.’ She smiles.
I stared back at the branch that had a rope tied around it. As I picked it up, it pulled the rope, activating the spikes that were supposed to penetrate my chest. I take a less obvious branch and begin gliding it across the ground in front of me. We follow Mabel’s lead. She has been here before.
‘This way.’ She says for the fiftieth time.
At this rate, the warriors will be there before us.
Mabel laughs.
‘What’s so funny?’ I ask.
‘Nothing, nothing at all.’ She says with a bemused look on her face.
‘There’s a cave over here.’ May says.
‘Not that one, dear.’
‘But it looks safe, and there’s plenty of light there.’
‘Ah, to be young and naïve.’ Mabel says.
‘And what is that supposed to mean, lady?’ May huffs.
‘It means you’re young and dumb, my dear.’
I cover my mouth and cannot contain my laugh for the life of me. The look on May’s face is priceless.
‘Why, you old crone!’ May says, about to throw a stone at her.
Her dad grabs her wrist just in time.
‘May, she’s old. You know to respect your elders.’ Leon growls at her.
‘But… she started it!’
‘May, I don’t care. You are proving her to be right, acting like a child.’
‘Well, I am sixteen, Dad. Technically, I’m still a child, so I’m only acting how I should be!’
Leon rubs his head.
‘The day you find your mate, I’ll worry about him. That’s for sure.’ Leon says.
‘Dad! How can you say that? You’re just as bad as the old crone, you know!’
Leon holds his hand up to silence May.
‘Shh, you hear that?’
May stops her tantrum, and we all listen.
‘What do you hear, dad?’ May whispers.
‘I hear silence, and that’s all I want to hear. Now be quiet so we can focus on finding your sister.’
Again, I have to cover my mouth with my hand to contain my laugh. May turns and glares at me. I gulp and swallow my laughter but keep the smirk on my face.
Mabel has a grin as wide as the Nile River plastered on her face.
We continue to follow Mabel quietly until she stops in front of a dark cave.
‘The other cave looked much more welcoming than this one.’ May pouts.
‘You wouldn’t last five minutes in that cave, dear. Looks can be deceiving. This one here may be dark and gloomy, but it leads to the ruthless rogue pack.’ Mabel says.
Leon shifts into his wolf to see better. I want to shift too, but it will take too long, and the rogues will hear my screams of pain, which will give us away.
Mabel flicks a stick, and a tiny ball of light appears like a flame but invisible. She hands it to me, flicks her finger against the tip of another stick and hands it to May.
‘How did you do that?’ May says in amazement.
I look down at Mabel.
‘You’re a witch?’
‘Shh.’ She smiles. ‘This way.’ She waves.
We follow her through the shallow, murky water.
I can hear the sounds of frogs and rats. May is shaking like a leaf at the number of cobwebs and spiders we pass. The one cave now has three different tunnels. We stop and stare at the three tunnels.
‘Which one is the right way?’ I ask Mabel.
‘Always keep to the left on the way in and keep to the right on the way out.’
I turn to thank her as she vanishes into the shadows.
‘How did she disappear like that?’ May asks.
‘Magic.’ I shrug.
‘So, which way do we go?’
‘Left, let’s go.’
