LEO
“I remember this place,” Jin says quietly, looking around.
It’s Azura, Jax, Dan, and me. Ace and Li Sheng are still trying to track down Judah. We have come fully equipped just in case shit goes down, and I have Azura with us. I won’t risk anything and intend to ask Raihana or maybe even Delsanra to place a protective spell around her just in case something happens. I need her and our pup safe.
“Who doesn’t?” I reply to Jin. We speak quietly, yet our voices seem to echo through the dark tunnels, bouncing off the walls and reaching our ears.
It had taken us two hours to get here, and now, with each passing moment, that dark feeling of foreboding grows. I look around the darkness. I can still feel the darkness hanging in the air… as if a shadow of her presence remains within these caverns.
My gaze goes to the far wall. As we turn a bend, I remember when she had created a child Wendigo… yet even as a monster, the child was a child. Its eerie wailing chilled me to the core, and I remember her throwing it against the wall and killing it, spreading blood and guts across that entire wall… I’d had to clean it…
When people hear that I have a sharp memory and can remember pretty much everything, they say I’m lucky or are impressed… sometimes… sometimes forgetting things is a blessing...
“Leo.”
Azura’s voice pulls me from the darkest corners of my mind, and I exhale slowly. I try to get rid of the dark, damp smell that fills my nose, a smell I was so used to while growing up. Jax scuffs his foot over the floor, and I see a bone beneath his feet.
“This place is hidden by magic, but it’s a shame it’s not fucking burned down.”
“Didn’t the Lycan King try to destroy it?” Jin asks, looking around slowly.
“I don’t know… I didn’t want to know…” I murmur. The caverns have a few entrances, but only our pack really know those, and some are extremely hard to get to or even blocked, like the one I had helped Delsanra escape through all those years ago.
Dan frowns, scanning the paths ahead.
“I don’t think any amount of magic or power could destroy this place… can you guys not feel the heaviness in the air? Darkness and evil remain here…”
“Then is it fucking smart to be down here? Don’t want to disturb anything,” Jax adds, kicking some bones out of his way. I raise an eyebrow. I thought he didn’t fucking want to disturb shit.
“Scared?” Dan grins, looking at Jax.
“Not really. There’s very little I’m scared of,” Jax counters. The tension seems to lift a little.
“Emmet’s been down here. I don’t think that will make a difference,” I add, holding Azura tight as we walk down a narrow winding path. Jax nods.
“What about you, Luna? Scared?”
“No, not at all. I was just thinking Kiara’s been down here, too… just thinking how you all grew up here…” she trails off, frowning slightly.
“Luckily, it’s all in the past,” Jin tells her with a small smile. It’s good to see them warming up to her.
We slow down, seeing the faint light ahead, and as one, we all ready our guns, making Azura raise an eyebrow.
That was damn sexy, she murmurs as we round the corner into what is obviously a makeshift lab. The place is empty of all life, though.
Yeah?
Oh yeah. You look sexy with a gun… so will you give me one? She asks as I lower my gun slowly, taking in the equipment, the fridges, and the boxes that lay to the side.
I’ll think about it, I reply arrogantly, making her frown. She’s fucking perfect.
“He was so confident that no one would find this place,” Dan murmurs as he does a quick walk around, almost as if to check if there is someone hiding just in case, but I can tell from the scent no one has been here in a while.
“Check the room next door. Is there anything else in there?” I ask as Dan goes over to the door, blowing off the lock and kicking open the door ahead, gun at the ready.
“Crates of stuff… looks like supplies… and… Leo, I think this is the substance that was added to the drugs,” he calls.
I cross the room, taking Azura with me as I enter the smaller room, a room that is fucking full of products. Crouching down, I sniff it, swearing.
“Yeah, it’s the fucking poison.” I stand up, scanning the room. “Emmet wasn’t done… from this room, it’s obvious he was planning to make many more, too.” I pick up a handful of bullet casings. Far more…
“He couldn’t have been doing this all alone, right?” Azura voices the very thought that was in my mind.
I don’t know… it’s possible, but it would mean being away from the pack more often than not… and he wasn’t away that often…
“He had help… rig the place up. I want cameras out in the woods around here, and, Jax, clear this shit out. All of it,” I command, turning away and re-entering the main hall.
An hour has passed, and we have probably been through most of the cavern, aside from the rooms sealed shut by Endora. The rest is stripped and searched thoroughly. We find a little paperwork and some numbers of buyers and suppliers, but nothing strong enough or solid enough to explain much about how he paid for all these supplies.
“Jin, trace these numbers. See If you can find anything on them. Otherwise, try calling. Dan, take some samples and see if you can find any scents or clues. We have the fucking dinner tomorrow, too. We need to get this shit sorted.”
My gaze moves to Azura, who is walking along the edge of the wall, her eyes fixed on the floor. She had been walking around and crouching down at times, but as long as she didn’t venture far, I let her carry on.
“Dinner?” She tilts her head, looking at me curiously.
“A cartel business party, beautiful, and before you ask, no.” She frowns.
“We’ll see,” she answers, making Jax snicker.
“Boys, think we have a new boss,” he smirks. I glare at him, picking up all the files when Azura hums.
“Emmet has a small foot… like, it’s a size eight or nine. If you look around the edge, in the dirt, some of these shoe prints look big… like an eleven…” she says, peering up at me from where she’s squatting. Frowning, I walk over to her, trying not to stare at her ass as I crouch next to her, my gaze dipping to the footprints. They are faint, but she has a point…
“Could be deliveries being brought in or work boots, but definitely not something to overlook… nice going, Luna,” Jax adds with a wink.
“What do you excel in?” Dan asks her.
“Weapons. I’m excellent with different weapons. Mama taught me to fight, and she’s relentless, and tracking is another I’m pretty neat at. Just don’t tell me to handle academic stuff. I dislike studies,” she replies.
“No worries, you got Leo with brains by your side,” Jin replies. My eyes skim the ground sharply.
“Yeah, I don’t think this is something to let slide…” I say, taking my phone out and taking some pictures.
-----
A few hours later, we have just made it back to the pack. We had grabbed some pizza on the way and are now in the lounge in the mansion.
It had been quiet on the drive home. The visit to the caverns had taken its toll on all of us, the raw memories of our past returning to the forefront of our minds. We will remove the rest of the machinery and stuff from the caverns soon, but I’m hoping if Emmet has an ally, they’ll go to the caverns before we go in with far more men… but we did remove the drugs and powder for the bullets from there just in case. I’m not leaving that shit lying around. Jin is getting the cameras installed and has some men from the cartel there with him. Right now, I hate to say this, but I’m beginning to not trust anyone from the pack… my pack.
At times like this, Shane comes to mind. Saying the Five just doesn’t fucking make sense… he is missed…
Dan sits back after taking a pizza slice, and Jax looks lost in thought.
“You seen Kareena lately?” He asks, looking at me. Guess Shane was on his mind, too…
“Not in a few days, but Azura has.” Azura nods, eating her pizza.
“She’s not doing great.”
“Yeah… she isn’t.” Jax frowns. “I get it now… when you asked your mated men to step away. I never did… but death really is unpredictable.” Frowning, I look across at him.
“Yeah… we lose more than one. It's rare for one to survive without the other… but I want Kareena to survive. I know Shane would want her to live on.”
“Yeah, he would…” Dan mumbles.
A silence falls, and suddenly it feels like no one is hungry anymore… Azura leans against me, her heart racing. Her fear of me dying sifts through the link, and her anger towards Judah rises. She hates him with everything she has.
It’s going to be okay, I say firmly, looking down at her. She tilts her head up, her gorgeous eyes holding a vulnerability as she searches my eyes before nodding slowly.
“Promise?” She asks softly.
“I promise,” I reply quietly, leaning closer and kissing her deeply.
Tomorrow is the dinner, and I truly hope we get some answers from Web. He sold the bullets… then does he know something about Judah?