I awoke the next morning with a headache that pounded throughout my skull. I groaned as I sat up and rubbed the sleep away from my eyes.
Goddess, who knew practicing could cause such pain?
I stretched my stiff limbs and rolled my neck, before finally dragging myself out of the bed and into the shower. The warmth of the water barely registered as it pelted my skin. I was on autopilot; just going through the motions.
When I was finished, I climbed out and dressed in some outdoor gear, knowing that we could join Valen and Von at the cave today.
I had just finished packing my bag and was brushing my teeth when Artemis burst through the bedroom door. I whipped around to face her.
"They're in trouble, we need to go now," she explained, as panic etched every crevice on her face.
Fear gripped my heart and I nodded as I spit the toothpaste out and gathered up my bag. I followed her out, sprinting down the hallway and up the stone steps.
We didn't stop as we dove through the crack in the wall and shifted, not caring about our clothes right now, and took off into the trees.
Sienna was growling in my head, irritated that she couldn't mind-link Valen or Orion and get insight on the situation. I pushed my limbs harder, my paws hitting the dirt with remarkable speed.
Artemis kept pace with me and I could feel the worry rolling off of her in waves. We were on a mission now, a mission to get to our mates.
We dodged and weaved every obstacle in our path, letting twigs whip at our fur and cut our skin as we did so.
Finally, the mouth of the lake emerged before us. We stopped for a brief second to listen. At first the land was deathly quiet, but then we heard the faint snarls of multiple wolves coming from across the lake.
We took off running again toward the mouth of the waterfall and made it there in record time.
We plunged in, not caring about the icy chill of the water. Sienna was growing more and more anxious the closer we got and fear continued to bleed through my veins.
I had to get to Valen. I had to know he was safe.
We emerged on the shoreline of the cave, taking in the scene around us.
There was a pile of smoldering ashes in the middle of five sleeping bags. All of which were empty and torn. Their packs looked like they had been rummaged through and trash littered the ground everywhere.
I looked to Artemis and saw her sniffing one in particular, which I assumed to be Von's.
I put my snout to the ground and did the same, quickly pinpointing which of the things belonged to Valen. We followed their trails deeper and deeper into the cave, getting closer to the nest of the Fate Spinner with every step.
We could hear faint breathing, which we took as a good sign, but nothing else.
The fur on my hackles rose as we stopped outside the entrance of the nest. I looked down and noticed small droplets of blood leading into the domain.
I nudged Artemis and showed her. She bent down to sniff, and let out a low growl. She looked back to me and nodded. I closed my eyes and concentrated for a moment, letting the light envelop my body and invade my heart. When I opened my eyes again, I could see everything in fine detail despite the darkness.
I knelt down and shimmied into the lair on my belly, leaving tufts of fur in my wake. I looked up and panic seized me again, as I saw five bodies hanging from a thick web on the ceiling, all tightly wrapped in a sticky cocoon.
Artemis made her way in behind me, and snarled when she saw them.
I stuck my nose in the air and let it guide me to Valen. I nuzzled against his cocoon, trying to give him some sort of comfort in knowing I was there. He didn't react.
I put my ear close to his body and listened for his heartbeat. It was silent just a beat too long, before a thump sounded. It was low and slow.
This is not good. We needed to get them down now. I yipped at Artemis, who had realized the same thing I had. She glanced up toward the opening in the ceiling where the Fate Spinner could easily come in and out of.
We didn't have time to worry about it, all we knew was it was somewhere in the cave.
All that mattered was that it wasn't here with us now.
I hopped up on my hind legs and wrapped my fangs around the thick rope of webs that were holding Valen to the ceiling. I chewed and gnawed, spitting web every time it would snap in my mouth.
Dammit, this was taking too long.
I fell back down onto my haunches, before immediately jumping back up and slicing my black claws across the rope. Valen's body dropped to the ground, and I used my claws to cut a long slit in the cocoon.
It unraveled around him, revealing his unconcious human form. Sienna whined in my head at the sight of our mate. She just wanted to protect him.
"He's down and can breathe now, we have to get the others," I told her.
"No, we can't leave our mate!"
"Sienna, he is safe at the moment. We'll get him out of here. Please, let me get the others down, too."
She finally huffed in resignation and turned her attention to the other three bodies swaying from the ceiling.
Artemis had managed to get Von down shortly after I got Valen. She approached me as I prepared to jump for one and helped me to get it down.
It was hard work, but we managed to get them all and confirm they were all still breathing.
I grabbed the top of Valen's cocoon, and drug it out and back to the campsite. It was slow progress, as the tunnel was not very wide. I covered him with his sleeping bag before heading back to get another wolf.
There were only two people left by the time I returned with Artemis hot on my tail. I was impressed. She'd managed to drag two people out in the time it took me to get one. I nudged her in appreciation and she yipped back.
We approached the remaining cocoons and peaked inside. With all of the chaos going on, we didn't even know who it was we were rescuing.
The first face wasn't surprising, though it wasn't all that pleasant, either.
Anton laid there, curled into a ball with a pained look on his sleeping face. The next one, however, sent a flare of jealousy and anger through my body.
Despite the circumstances we were in, I was pissed.
Celia lay in the last one, resting peacefully with a smirk on her face.
I curled my nose up but grabbed the cocoon and dragged it along, feeling small amounts of glee when it would bump over a rock.
Finally, we made it back with everyone. Artemis and I shifted back and dug through the princes' things to find something to wear.
It would be a while before they woke up, so we decided to get everything back in order and light another fire.
The more light the better.
It was about an hour later that the group finally started to awaken. Von was first, sitting up and clenching his sides in pain.
He looked around frantically before realizing where he was and who he was with. He sent a large smile to Artemis, who returned it right away and bounded over to him.
She plopped down on his lap and attached her lips to his. I looked away to give them some privacy.
Valen was the next one to awaken. He bolted upright, a threatening growl escaping his lips as he clenched his fists and prepared for a fight.
Von detached himself from Artemis long enough to laugh at Valen's outburst, which caused his face to flush a bright red. I let out a small giggle and his eyes immediately met mine.
He pulled me into his arms and encased me in a bone-crushing hug.
"Are you okay?" he whispered into my hair.
"Peachy. We're the ones who got you down, you know."
He pulled back to look between Artemis and I, a grin breaking out on his face.
"I knew we could count on you two," he said before dipping down and placing a tender kiss on my lips.
I relished in the moment, before pulling away and grabbing his face between my palms.
"However, there are some other things we need to discuss when we get out of here," I said while shooting a glare in the direction of Celia's cocoon.
She, Anton, and one of the other pack warriors had just begun to rise from their slumber. They all sat up, rubbing their heads or eyes and asking what had happened.
Valen's posture tensed when his eyes met Celia's.
"Why didn't you tell me she was going to be here?" I whispered to him through gritted teeth.
"Not now, Indigo. We'll talk about it later," he snapped back.
I removed myself from his embrace and glared at him. Artemis, who had also disentangled herself from her mate, moved to sit beside me. She glanced back at Celia.
"You have some explaining to do," she said with a wink.
I huffed at her before she turned to the crowd and pointing at Anton.
"We warned you about the Fate Spinner. How could you have let this happen?"
He scoffed.
"You think it was me? I wasn't the one who fell asleep while on watch duty."
He sent a glare to the younger warrior in the back, who looked down sheepishly, but didn't say anything.
"This won't work as a base if you guys don't take this threat seriously. If it weren't for Von, you would have all died back there today."
She put her hands on her hips and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. She looked like a teacher scolding her students.
They all hung their heads in shame, aside from Celia, who eyed her with open hostility.
"And who might you be?" Celia asked her.
Artemis just smirked back and walked over to Von, before planting a passionate kiss on his lips.
"Does that answer your question?" Celia growled in response but turned away. I cleared my throat.
"What happened to you guys can't happen again. This base can only be used in the daylight, when the Fate Spinner sleeps. It's not worth the risk of any more lives of this pack," I stated to the crowd. Anton narrowed his eyes at me.
"And how is it you two seem to know so much about this creature?" he probed. I rolled my eyes at him.
"My aunt used to tell us stories about all sorts of creatures in the supernatural world. I didn't believe most of them until now."
He narrowed his eyes at me, clearly still suspicious. He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could we were interrupted by a noise coming from the tunnel.
We turned our heads toward it and listened. Small, scratching sounds were bouncing off the rocks and echoing back at us. A low hiss could be heard every few seconds, indicating that it was getting closer and closer.
"We need to leave. The Fate Spinner is coming."
Author's Note:
More creepy crawlies! Why would it be up and moving in the daylight? How could everyone have been attacked the night before? Why the heck was Celia there?? You'll find out in the next chapter!
Until then, please vote and comment to let me know what you think!
Xoxo,
CrimsynIris