I zoom past trees, skim over fallen logs and under overhanging debris, aware I’m slower once more, and tire faster, but I fight on anyway. I must see this through and lead my people home when victory is ours. I owe them so much, and from what I can see, as all remaining wolves head hard towards the mountain in one wave, our numbers are vast. We didn’t seem to lose many to fighting our brothers. As I skim the faces around me, I can’t feel the sense of loss I did earlier, and I wonder if it was merely their pain and not death.
Not one single wolf death. We did what we set out to do. Break the spell without any losses.
Carmen mind links me, seemingly understanding why I’m looking around as we run, and I smile. My heart rising in delirious happiness because I truly thought there would be an aftermath of grief and despair when the turned found out they killed some of our own and that our victory would also be the start of mourning the losses. Instead, we must ensure the same outcome at the mountain now.
It looms over my head like a foreboding shadow, making me aware I have never ventured this far or come this close to this beast of grey rock. The stench and vibrations of vampires overpower me as I reach the overhang where we always suspected the entrance was. I can feel them in their droves. Moving, fighting, hissing in the depths of their caverns, and as my pack starts to single file into the narrow tunnel entrance, which has been ripped open wide by wolves in their fury to get inside, I push my way past and dash to get in ahead of the next wave.
Carmen’s stuck to my side as my personal bodyguard. My mind focuses on following my mate’s scent. Like a bright shining path in the dark, I can feel him close, smell where he’s been, and tremble with the force of his aggression exuding through the air as he fights for his pack within the mountain. I can sense Cesar, the sub pack, and Meadow all within these walls and doing what they do best.
Seeing it’s their Luna among them, some move and get out of my way, still unsure why I’m in human form, but they don’t ask. They follow at speed, flanking me like an army, knowing this is where they’re needed for sure.
The inner coven den is almost pitch black once I escape from the open entrance, and my night vision takes a moment to kick in. I can still smell Colton in the air, even though the stench of blood and sweat and those rabid creatures overpowers my senses, and I use it as my guide as I feel my way along damp cold walls. I stumble on badly scraped and uneven, gritty floors, cursing under my breath that my footing is useless as a human. Carmen slides beside me to offer support, and I cling onto her fur instead and use her as a walking aid. It’s been dug out carelessly and makeshift like they never intended this to be more than a temporary lair. There are no home comforts or hints of human living, just damp and cold cave-like wild animals sheltering in the darkness and not creatures capable of civilization like us.
My eyes adjust, bringing the surrounding shapes into view and blood-curdling screams further up the incline. Coming down cut-off tunnels on either side of me fill me with dread. It’s one thing to fight them out there in the open, see them coming, and have the space around you to anticipate their attack, but another entirely to be in here, claustrophobic with poor vision and opportunity for every tunnel to be a pounce point. This is a labyrinth of cold stone and damp. Even with night vision and extreme senses, it’s still a terrifying place to try and navigate, and the noises echoing around confuse the mind to where battles ensue.
I move fast and follow the loudest screams, ignoring my pounding heartbeat and shaking limbs. Sensing Colton, sensing Meadow in the air, and surprisingly I feel Sierra behind me almost as soon as I step into a wider area of open rock that cuts off in front of me into a nearly cliff-like drop.
Alora, I’m with you. I’m sorry I couldn’t get back to you.
She’s panting like she’s been running hard, and I’m guessing after she got free of wherever she was, she came bounding back to find me and then got lost in the chaos of the broken spell. She probably heard the help cry and knew I would come this way before picking up my scent again.
Stay close to me. I won’t leave you again.
I nod, needing no explanations as I know she wouldn’t have left me had she been able to control it. I saw what the battlefield was like, how chaotic it was, and how badly we struggled against them. How easy it was to separate us and lose one another. I’m hoping she sees it, feels that I’m okay, and now she’s here, I’m fine.
Sierra presses to my other side so she and Carmen flank me fully. My hands skim their fur, and I feel a sense of security despite my vulnerable state as a human. At least I have my gifts back, even if they are powering on less than fifty percent of my abilities because of my babies. It’s better than nothing. And now I also have my femmes and a small entourage of pack wolves going to meet our most ruthless ahead of us. Nothing can happen to me this time. I know that I need to stay safe and that now Colton is here, I won’t be in danger as I was before. I can relinquish the reigns and let my mate be everything I know he can be.
We shuffle along left, the narrow walkway away from the sheer drop, and find the winding way down where all hell seems to be breaking loose. This mountain is almost hollow right in the center, and all tunnels and walkways seem to wind into this one walking space that twists down to the depths below. The echoes and cries I heard all over are concentrated inside this cavern and flowing out in all directions.
The battle below is vicious and loud, and the flying fury of fur and pale creatures makes for an almost stormy sea-like movement across the depths. I can’t see who is who, but my attention is drawn up as something flies past me and crashes into the overhanging rocky ceiling above before plummeting back down at speed. It scares the shit out of me. My heart lurches to my throat, and the three of us jump back against those behind us and inhale swiftly in perfect sync. Freezing as we stare at whatever that was and eyeing it warily.
“What the hell?” I recoil in horror as another makes a break for it, and for the first time, I see some of the vampires have wings. Like huge, oversized leathery bat wings, and my jaw drops open.
“Why the hell have we never seen this before, and what in the actual…….” My mind turns blank, and I blink, trying to adjust to this sight and believe what I’m seeing.