Chaos! In the Castle

ISAAC

Fuck, I hope she’s somewhere warm.

We’re at the base of the mountain, walking through heavily wooded forest, looking for a tunnel entrance.

Wolves aren’t susceptible to cold the way humans are, but even I put on a long-sleeved shirt.

I’m restless; my wolf is just below the surface, ready to explode. I still can’t feel her. I’m desperate for anything, any small sign. Anything to let me know she’s here or that she’s even conscious.

Valera’s “inside man” gave us directions through the tunnels and some information about what’s been happening here.

Now, if we could only ~find~ the fucking entrance. I’m being continuously told that we’re “almost there.”

At last count there were twenty-eight vampires, excluding the king, that have fed from her. We’re expecting there to be more by the time we get there.

I try not to let my mind linger too long on it, knowing that she’s being bitten over and over again, drained and injured. I just need to have her in my arms, to hold her and love her, to protect her.

My little mate.

“Jacko!” Hunter hisses from behind me. I turn to see Valera inspecting two huge boulders.

“This is it,” she says, pointing to a small opening between the rocks.

“Fuck, we’re all going to have to shift to fit through that.” I immediately start to rip my clothes off. We don’t have time for this shit. She’s waiting.

Everyone follows suit and quickly strips and shifts.

We slide under the rocks, one by one. As soon as I’m in the small tunnel, I shift and pull my clothes on. I hope everyone is ready to run up this mountain.

I rock on my feet impatiently as everyone gets dressed. Realistically, I know that we can’t sprint; the tunnels are small and there are winding curves. But I’m about to jump out of my skin.

When this is over, I know I owe these people a huge debt. I’ve been nothing short of a jackass. I’ve been impatient, snappy, and nearly murderous on several occasions.

Madelyn is my gamma, she is loyal to me and to the wolf race. Hunter and Lucas are alphas, it’s our duty to stop this threat. It’s not, however, their duty to go above and beyond to rescue my mate.

Beta Morris is here on behalf of Warner, who is recovering from the injury I gave him. If that isn’t a friend, I don’t know what is.

Rhodes is a rogue; aside from self-preservation, he has no reason to be here. He is though, he is here, dealing with my insufferable attitude to save my mate.

I try to remind myself of the risks they are taking, of the danger they are willingly putting themselves in to save her.

“Everyone ready?” I try to say calmly and without any indication that I’m about to have a meltdown if we don’t start moving.

They all nod.

“Halfway up there is a rock face that we’ll have to climb. After that you can shift and we’ll be there in no time,” Valera says to everyone but looks at me.

I won’t admit it but she’s not bad for a vamp.

We jog in silence, in a single-file line through the small tunnel.

Tomorrow is my birthday. I think back to just a month ago when Annie wanted to plan a party. What I wouldn’t give to be back home with my mate and my pack, celebrating.

The tunnel twists and turns and occasionally brings us to steep inclines. The floor is slick in places where moss has grown thick over wet stone.

We reach a small ledge that cuts across a vast open canyon. I peer over the edge, but the bottom isn’t visible.

“Okay, here we go. It’s easiest if you put your back flat against the wall,” her whisper echoes through the vast nothing.

It can’t be more than fifty steps, but my foot is longer than the ledge. I notice Hunter making the same realization.

We each press our backs against the cold stone and spread our arms out over it for balance. Hunter and I both have backpacks that we’ve flipped around onto our chests.

Everyone shuffles, sidestepping toward the mouth of another tunnel. Just in front of me, Madelyn kicks a rock that falls into the dark, open ravine.

For a moment, everyone stops, listening, waiting. After several breaths, a small, far-off click is heard.

We definitely need to get off this ledge.

When Valera reaches the end, I hold my breath as she swings her arm and leg out over the abyss to pull herself into the tunnel.

We each take turns pulling ourselves over into the crowded space. I never thought I’d be glad to be back in a tunnel.

I pull the small vial of capsules from my backpack. There is one pill for each of us.

“Once we take these, we have to be quick. We won’t have much time before they wear off,” I remind them for the hundredth time.

Everyone starts to prepare to shift, putting their clothes into the backpacks. We all do a silent “cheers” as we swallow the pills then shift.

We jog faster now, running behind Valera through what I believe to be the last tunnel.

Valera holds up her hand for us to stop.

Whatever she hears, I hear it too. I notice everyone’s ears perk up.

Footsteps.

Just up ahead, the tunnel opens up into a wide room. Someone is walking there. We crouch down and listen. My heart hammers in my chest—we don’t have time for this.

A large metal door closes with a thud, and the air is quiet.

Valera runs out into the room. It’s like a garage carved into the mountains. The room is a huge cave with large vehicles parked inside.

“We’ll meet here after, to go down the mountain,” she whispers before turning and running up a large flight of stairs carved into the wall. We run up until we meet a large metal door.

“This is it, Alpha,” she nods to me, “follow close behind me.”

I nod, and she pulls the door open. We’re in a long hallway. Someone is walking toward us in the distance.

“Hey! What the fu—” Rhodes springs forward and grabs him by the neck. As planned, the rest of us continue, sprinting through the hallway.

We reach a huge foyer, and I follow Valera, running as fast as I can. When we get to a flight of stairs, we run down.

As I reach the bottom, I’m tackled by a vampire with a large smile on his face. He thinks I can’t hurt him. We wrestle across the floor. I’m trying to get to his neck, but he’s fast.

I roll onto my back and kick him up. Valera grabs his neck and twists. Relief fills me as he falls to the floor and begins to melt. Part of me still didn’t trust Rhazell’s pills.

I hear screaming and glass breaking as we start to run again. The castle is now in chaos.

“Valera,” calls a thin, smaller vampire as he runs up the hallway. I poise myself to pounce on him.

“He’s my insider,” she tells me. “He knows exactly where she is.”

“The king is with her now, hurry,” he says before turning around and running back the way he came.

I’m coming, little mate, just hold on a little bit longer.