*Maddox*
Leo was right about the mine shaft.
I feel my way through the tunnel, the walls damp with condensation and crudely carved. Leo is ahead of me, holding a flashlight as he walks into the tight, seemingly endless darkness.
“You really came here to play as a kid?” I ask, my words feeling wet and heavy in the sudden humidity. There must be an underground river somewhere beneath us, because everything I touch is wet, and my hair is so damp it’s sticking to my face.
“Not play,” Leo says with a short laugh. “We’d dare each other to go in. Some say a demon lived in here, a spirit of some guy who died while it was being built.”
A shiver runs up my spine but I shake the thought away.
“Ah, here, shit–” Leo drops the flashlight, and a loud bang echoes through the tunnel.
“Are you alright?”
“Fine, I just hit my head,” Leo grunts, and then the area around us is showered in light again as he picks up the flashlight and holds it in front of him, illuminating a huge metal door.
I have no idea what’s on the other side, but I pray that it leads into the castle. I can’t take Isla through the front gates, not if this comes to bloodshed.
Leo wiggles the handle. “Locked,” he says, turning to look at me with a disappointed expression on his face. I take the flashlight from him and step between him and the door.
“Move away,” I command, waiting for the young man to take a few steps back before I slam the flashlight against the handle with all of my strength. The door protests, but the sound of metal scraping against metal echoes off the wall around us as the handle falls to the ground. I pull the door open with my fingers gripping the opening where the handle had once been. Decades of dust fill the space around us.
But I get the door open.
“Thank the Goddess,” I choke as I run my hands over the smooth walls inside the tunnel. “This will lead to the castle,” I say, more to myself as I step further into its dark recesses. I feel along the wall for a light switch while Leo coughs and sputters behind me.
Fluorescent lights flicker on, one after another, and bathe the space in muted light. Everything is covered in dust, and there’s a sharp turn at the end of the tunnel, but I don’t have time to explore any further.
“Let’s go,” I say, motioning for Leo to lead the way back through the mine shaft.
A few minutes later, we are back outside, and I am barking orders at a group of warriors who are tasked with seeing Isla safely inside.
It’s pouring rain now, water dripping off the planes of my face as I squint into the downpour to where Isla’s golden hair is glistening in the distance. Ben approaches me before I can go to her, though.
“You’re going with me,” I tell him. “We’ll send a few scouts back here once we’ve made it past the enemy forces and onto castle grounds. Antony–” I say, motioning for him to come over to where Ben and I are standing under the shelter of a towering oak, “you’re going inside the tunnel, with Isla and Poppy. They can shelter in the mine shaft to stay out of the rain, but until you see the scouts, do not let them or the warriors assisting you go inside. I don’t know what I’m walking into, and if the castle is overrun before I get there–” I bite down on the words, anger coursing through my veins at the thought. “If you don’t see the scouts within the next hour, take Isla and Poppy back to the manor.”
I can sense that Antony wants to ask something along the lines of, “And then what?” but he stays silent, giving me only a nod that he understands my orders.
I look around, catching the gaze of Vember, who nods to let me know he and his men are ready to move out.
But then I sense something I can’t entirely explain. My head snaps to Isla, who looks at me in return, a look of pain and sudden panic flashing across her face.
“Isla,” I say, taking a step toward her, then I break into a sprint as she clutches Poppy’s arm and bends at the waist. Somethings wrong, somethings–
“My water,” she pants, squeezing her eyes shut. “The baby–”
“He’s coming now,” Poppy exclaims as I wrap an arm protectively over my mate's shoulders. “Where is Mystica? Oh, Goddess–”
“What do you mean, where is Mystica?” I growl, looking around wildly as the group of warriors start to shift in preparation to move out. Fuck, I can’t leave her like this. I can’t have her wait in pain and then walk through a fucking tunnel to safety, without me.
Ben and Antony exchange glances, then dart away in search of the healer I can no longer make rhyme or reason of.
“New plan, Isla,” I say, scooping her into my arms. “You’re not going through the tunnel.”
“What?” she chokes, her body tightening as she grimaces, trembling in pain.
“We’re not far from the castle,” I say, looking around at the confused warriors. I find Vember, who furrows his brows as he turns his back to the warriors he was just talking to. “We’re going, now. All of us. Every man, every wolf,” I say to him firmly. “Everyone moves out, now. We’re going through the front gates.”
Not much of a speech, but my mind is currently elsewhere.
“The prince is on his way,” I announce, holding Isla to my chest. “And he will not be born in a fucking mine shaft.”
* * *
Isla
At some point, I am passed off to Ben, who is currently sprinting through the trees along the perimeter of the walls outside the castle with me holding onto him for dear life.
“Put me down!” I protest, sinking my nails into his chest. It’s still dumping rain, and it’s so dark I can’t see more than the flicker of lights coming from the castle grounds over the towering walls. He’s been running for what feels like hours, trying to find a way inside the walls, trying to get me inside and out of the way of the dozens, if not hundreds, of enemy wolves continuously blocking our path.
“Fuck it, Isla, I’m going to have to climb over–”
“Don’t you fucking dare!” I screech, kicking my legs. “I can walk, for the love of the Goddess! Put me down!”
“Maddox said–”
“I don’t care what he said!” I scream, partly from the painful contraction threatening to rip me in half and partly from anger. I’m tempted to bite Ben just to get my point across. “I’m not some fragile doll, Ben. Put me down. Let me walk, please–”
Ben lowers me to my feet, his eyes scanning our surroundings. It’s quiet in the corner of the woods at the rear of the castle, but I can hear the chaos taking place nearby. Maddox had simply dumped me into Ben’s arms and taken off like a rocket into the night, his clothes shredding into nothing as his wolf form emerged and barreled into enemy lines.
Part of me didn’t expect this to actually happen. I had simply expected the Diamond of Faith to have magically solved this issue.
Now, Alphas were literally fighting their way into the castle grounds, threatening my mates rightful place, his rightful title.
“I can walk,” I repeat, walking along the wall with my hand pressed against it for support. Every step is painful, and a turtle could breeze past me at this pace. Ben exhales dramatically and groans.
“I’m going to climb,” he says firmly, “and you’re going to put your hands around my neck and hold on–”
“No!” I protest, but then a wolf barrels out of the darkness. Ben, who hasn’t yet shifted, screams in frustration as he takes the wolf down with his bare hands, wrestling it to the ground with his arms around the beast's neck.
I watch, wide eyed, unable to do anything but stand there stunned like a deer in headlights.
“You’re going over the fucking wall, Isla!” Ben screams, his face contorted as he chokes the wolf until it eventually goes limp.
“Fine,” I say, breathless. I look down at my hands, trying to will my powers into motion, but every ounce of my energy is now wholly focused on the fact that I’m in labor. “You couldn’t have waited a few hours?” I say to my son.
“What?” Ben asks, looking absolutely feral as he rises to his feet and shakes rain from his body.
“Nothing–”
“Get on, hold on tight. If you fall off, I swear to the Goddess–”
“I won’t fall.”
“Maddox will fucking kill me if anything happens to you, Isla. Work with me here.”
I wrap my arms around his neck, trying to adjust my position on his back so I can fit flush against him without my stomach separating us. Ben is throwing curses as he feels along the wall for any hold he can use to start climbing.
I’m scared, I can admit that, and maybe Ben is too.
“Where’s Poppy?” I ask, wincing as he begins to climb.
“She was with Antony. I trust he’ll get her inside.”
“And Mystica?” I say, biting down on the words as another contraction washes over me, leaving me seeing stars. I fight to maintain my grip on Ben’s shoulders as he struggles with the climb, but he’s making progress, the ground falling away beneath us.
We’d all been separated when we came upon the first encampment of enemies. We’d taken them by surprise, but all hell had broken loose after that.
“I don’t know, Isla. I’m sorry.”
Snarling and howling breaks out below us, followed by shouts of approaching enemy warriors.
“Shit, hold on!” Ben practically swings us to the side, and I yelp in surprise as he clasps the top of the wall with one hand.
“That’s the breeder! Don’t let her get over the wall!” shouts someone below us. I bite down on my tongue, wanting nothing more than to lash out at them and tell them to address me as their Luna, thank you very much.
A wolf lunges at us, its teeth sinking into Ben’s shoe. I kick the wolf in the face several times before it lets go and falls to the ground.
“Thanks,” Ben says through gritted teeth. “Here we go, okay? I’m going to climb over–”
Someone on the other side of the wall is shouting in panic, and suddenly a rock whizzes only inches past Ben’s head. He ducks, his arms trembling with the strain of both of our weight as he clutches the edge of the wall with all of his strength. More wolves have gathered beneath us, all of them jumping and snarling. We’re roughly fifteen feet off the ground now, and I feel panic start to well in the pit of my stomach as Ben’s hold on the wall begins to weaken.
“I have the Luna, you fucking idiots!” He bellows to the warriors on the other side of the wall. “Let me over!”
The rocks stop whizzing past us, which gives Ben enough time to pop his head back over the top of the wall. I plant my feet on the wall, lifting myself off his back so I can peer over the top of the wall as well, giving the confused warriors below a glimpse of my face. Someone sighs with relief.
“Hello, it’s really me,” I smile, then scream as Ben's grip on the wall nearly fails, and we’re dragged back down, a wolf hanging from his boot. “Help! Help!”
Rocks begin to fly again, but not at us. Below, the wolves are pelted with them and begin to retreat, just as someone clutches Ben’s arms and starts to pull him back up.
Three of Maddox’s warriors help us over the wall, and I have no choice but to close my eyes and pray that whoever is standing below me with their arms outstretched is strong and ready as I drop through the air.