Chapter 21 - Lola
The air in the basement was thick and damp, the scent of mildew clinging to every surface.
Lola’s fingers trembled as she swept them along the edge of the stone wall, her breath shallow and controlled only by sheer will.
Overhead, the heavy footfalls of guards echoed like thunder, every creak and shift in the floorboards above making them all flinch.
The women huddled close, their eyes wide with fear but shining with determination. Daisy crouched beside Cassie, whispering softly, trying to keep her steady. Poppy and Bree took their places near the stairs, listening intently, ready to signal if anyone came too close.
Lola moved through the basement with methodical purpose, scanning, searching, every nerve in her body screaming to panic, but she couldn’t afford that now. Not when they were so close.
She pulled aside a broken shelving unit, its wood brittle from years of rot. Behind it, half-concealed by debris and dust, she found a rusted cabinet pressed into the stone. With effort, she dragged it away, grunting softly with the strain.
“Cassie,” she whispered, “over here.”
Cassie hurried over, brushing her hair out of her face. Lola dropped to her knees, brushing away a thick layer of dust. A grate, corroded and ancient, stared back at them.
“Is that it?” Cassie asked.
“I think so. There’s no reason for this grate to be here; there must be a tunnel behind it.”
Lola grabbed the edge and pulled, but it didn’t budge. The hinges were stiff with rust, the latch a tangled mess of old iron and grime.
Cassie leaned in, brow furrowing, “It’s locked. Old iron bolt.”
“Can you pick it?”
Cassie blinked at her. “With what?”
Lola’s fingers darted to the ribbon in her hair, pulling it loose. Beneath the messy bun, she retrieved a pin. Cassie took it, examining it like a surgeon preparing for delicate work.
“Give me a minute.”
Tension mounted as Cassie knelt beside the grate, working the pin carefully into the bolt. Every scrape of metal was painfully loud in the stillness.
Lola stood guard, her eyes darting to the stairs every few seconds. Above them, a laugh rang out. One of Red Teeth’s alphas. Cruel. Cocky.
Her skin crawled.
“Come on,” she murmured.
Cassie didn’t speak, her focus absolute. Then, a click.
The bolt slipped.
Cassie exhaled hard. “Got it.” She handed the hairpin back to Lola with an unreadable expression. “You know, Dane taught me and the boys how to do that.”
Lola swallowed, her throat dry.
No, no she couldn’t think about Dane right now. She had to focus.
They eased the grate open together, revealing a narrow, dust-choked tunnel entrance. Just beyond it was a small, rusted door, the handle discolored with age.
Lola pulled it open and peered into the dark. Cold air rushed out like a sigh. The tunnel sloped downwards, barely tall enough for a person to crawl through.
“I think it leads to the Grove,” she said. “It’ll take a while, but it’s safe. We can get out.”
Cassie grinned with shaky relief. “You’re a genius.”
Lola didn’t smile back.
She was staring into the dark, the weight of something heavy pressing down on her chest.
“Everyone,” she called softly, “this is it. Get lined up. One at a time. Quietly.”
Poppy and Bree ushered the others toward the entrance. The women whispered hurried goodbyes, expressions taut with fear but shining with hope.
Lola stayed near the tunnel’s mouth, counting them as they slipped into the narrow darkness. Seven gone. Eight. Nine.
Cassie ducked her head and gave Lola a brief hug. “We’ll wait for you at the end.”
Lola didn’t respond.
She couldn’t.
Because she knew, knew with absolute certainty, they wouldn’t all make it unless someone bought them time.
And she already knew who that someone had to be.
Cassie vanished into the tunnel.
Only Daisy remained.
Lola turned, her heart hammering.
She didn’t know how to say it. Didn’t know how to tell her…her friend that she wasn’t coming with them.
“I’ll go last,” Daisy whispered, brushing her hands on her skirt, voice trembling, “let’s close it behind us, and we can pull something over it from the other side.”
Lola shook her head.
Daisy blinked, “What?”
“I’m not going.”
For a moment, Daisy didn’t understand. Then her eyes widened. “No. No, no, no—Lola, don’t do this. We have to go together. We can make it.”
Lola tried to smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Her heart was thudding so hard she could barely hear herself think. “You saw the length of that tunnel. It winds. It narrows. It’ll take time. Too much time. Someone needs to stall him. And if they breach before you’re out—”
“We’ll run. We’ll shift and run. We’ll be faster-”
“No,” Lola said, her voice firmer now. She stepped back from the grate, palm resting on the rusted iron bolt, “I can do this, Daisy. I can talk to him. Keep him distracted. I’ll be careful.”
Daisy’s eyes filled with tears. “You can’t—you can’t.”
“I know. But I’m doing it anyway. I don’t care what games they were playing; they know you’re Nicolas’s mate. They’ll tear you apart. But me? They don’t know me. I’m not pack.”
“Please,” Daisy choked out, reaching for her. “Please don’t do this. You are pack. You are! Dane will lose his mind. You don’t have to be the one—”
Lola’s hands trembled as she caught Daisy’s wrists and squeezed. “If I don’t do it, he dies. They all die. And then it won’t matter what I wanted.”
She pushed Daisy gently but firmly toward the tunnel.
“Don’t,” Daisy sobbed. “Lola, please—”
The bolt slid into place with a heavy clunk.
Daisy’s hands slammed against the other side. “LOLA!”
Lola turned her back on the sound, pressing her palms against her eyes as the first sob escaped. She gave herself five seconds, no more.
Then she stood tall.
She straightened the hem of her skirt, smoothed her hair, and lifted her chin.
And walked upstairs.
The main hall was dim and acrid with smoke.
The lights overhead flickered weakly, and the air was laced with the ghost of fire and explosives.
Two of Red Teeth’s alphas lounged by the door, muttering to each other.
The one with the scar jumped to his feet as she walked in, his eyes flashing. The other watched her like a predator.
Lola didn’t falter.
“I want to speak to your leader,” she said calmly, “now.”
Scar-mouth laughed, “You got something to say to the boss, sweetheart? You think he’s got time to listen to you?”
“I think he’ll want to hear what I have to offer,” Lola replied coldly.
The one with the predator stare leaned in. “And what’s that?”
“Information,” she said. “I’m not a member of the Iron Walkers. I’m not pack. I have no loyalty to them. And I have information I can give to you in exchange for my safety.”
They exchanged glances.
“Important information,” Lola said, willing her hands not to tremble, “information about Felix and the other alphas. I’m sure your leader will want to hear what I have to say. It could mean the difference between your victory and defeat.”
She set her jaw, silently screaming at them with every bone in her body to take the bait.
A moment later, one of them disappeared through a side door.
Lola waited, barely breathing, her heart hammering like it wanted to crack through her ribs.
Finally, the alpha returned and jerked his head. “He’ll see you. Amused, mostly. Don’t bore him.”
They led her down a narrow corridor, through another steel door. It opened into the lounge room that once held quiet warmth and celebration. Now it reeked of blood and gunpowder.
Red Teeth stood by the far window, masked in bone and draped in shadow.
The mask looked like a predator’s jaw, molded from some beast she didn’t want to imagine. It covered half his face, but she could still see his mouth, thin, bloodless lips twisted in something that was not quite a smile.
He was taller than the other alphas. Bigger. His presence stole the air from the room.
She swallowed her fear. “I have information that I think you’ll find very useful.”
Red Teeth turned slowly, silent.
“And who are you?”
“Someone who can help you,” she said, “you’ve got us trapped in here, but you’ve overlooked something. Something important. Something that will give Felix the edge when he attacks.”
His head tilted, considering, “And what could you possibly know, little girl?”
Lola’s spine straightened, “I’ve been working with the Iron Walkers. I’m privy to information that you don’t have. And I’ll give it to you, in exchange for my safety.”
He took a slow step forward. The scent of ash and rot came off him like a cloak.
“You’re bold.”
“I’m practical.”
Red Teeth paused in front of her, gaze unreadable behind the mask.
For a moment, the air between them went razor-sharp.
Then he laughed. A low, cold sound. “Fine. Entertain me.”
Lola’s mouth went dry.
Shit.
She hadn’t thought this far through.
Red Teeth seemed to know it, his blank, lifeless eyes staring straight through her lies. Every passing second felt like an eon.
She had to think of something. Anything.
But her useless brain had screeched to a halt in the face of the beast before her.
A humorless smirk tugged the corner of Red Teeth’s lips, and he turned, opening his mouth to say something to one of his alphas, when finally, Lola found her voice.
“A secret entrance!” she half-yelled, wincing at the volume. Red Teeth paused, turning back to her.
She gulped.
“Th-there’s a secret entrance. Into the Pine Shadow Club. One that only Dane knows about .”
Red Teeth cocked his head, “Is that so?”
“Yes,” she said, imbuing her voice with as much bravado as she could muster. Her legs were weak, one breath away from buckling under her. “I…read about it. In the old schematics. And told him about it.”
Someone had once told her the best lies were founded in truth. And Red Teeth was a wolf. Any slip, any false move, and he would scent her deception like rot on a corpse.
She needed any advantage she could get.
“Do you know who I am, little girl?”
Lola started at the ice in his voice, the pure menace. “I…I’ve heard of you.”
He stepped closer, and she fought the urge to shrink away. “And what have you heard?”
She glanced up at him towering above her, her eyes darting between his and the floor, all her bravery sapped away, “I…I know you were a member of the old guard. You were the…the…”
“Say it,” he said, eyes glinting.
“The enforcer,” she stammered out, heart in her throat.
The words dropped like stones between them.
An image of Dane, blood-soaked and vicious, flashed behind her eyes.
This was the monster he was afraid to be. The mindless killing machine who loved nobody and nothing and was not loved in return.
Only feared.
“I’ve not encountered the current enforcer of the Iron Walkers in person in many years,” Red Teeth said, his teeth flashing. “Not since a battlefield where he ripped my comrades limb from limb. He did have a particular talent for murder.”
“He’s not a murderer,” Lola spat, eyes widening as she realized what she’d just inadvertently revealed.
Shit. Shit.
Red Teeth was silent for a moment, but then the air around them cooled. His eyes sparked.
“You’re his, aren’t you?”
She kept her mouth shut, her heart hammering, her wolf thrashing within her, recognizing the overpowering threat of the male in front of her.
He grunted. “It doesn’t matter. You’ll all be dead soon, anyway.” He unclipped a remote from his belt. “The second your male attacks with Felix and the rest of them, I’m blowing them to kingdom come. Them, their mates, you.”
Lola whimpered, backing away, colliding into another sneering alpha. Red Teeth stalked closer, raising a hand to grip her jaw, his fingers calloused and bruising. “But maybe I’ll keep you. I like it when females cry. Will you cry for me, little girl?”
She tried to jerk away, but his grip was too hard, too punishing.
All she could do was hope that she had bought the others enough time to escape.
A door slammed open.
“They’re gone!” one of the guards shouted. He looked panicked, wild-eyed. “The basement’s empty. The grate was broken—”
Red Teeth’s gaze whipped towards her.
Lola didn’t flinch. Not until his hand struck her across the face with such force she fell hard against the floorboards.
Stars exploded behind her eyes. Her cheek lit up like fire, and her vision swam. She tasted blood on her tongue.
Distantly, she heard one of the alphas swear. Another laughed.
Red Teeth hauled her up by the arm and yanked her toward the shattered double doors that once led to the club’s main entrance. “Lying bitch,” he spat. “Maybe you’ll be good for something. Maybe they’ll trade their lives for you.”
Lola’s head lolled as he dragged her, every bone screaming. But her mind was clear. Crystal.
They were outside now. The night air hit her like a wave, cold and laced with smoke. The trees surrounding the clearing were still. But she knew they were out there. Watching.
Red Teeth stopped on the warped wood of the front steps, holding her upright with one thick arm, his other hand gripping the detonator clipped to his belt.
“Iron Walkers!” he shouted, his voice booming across the dark night, “You’ve got ten seconds to show yourselves, or I start blowing up your precious women one room at a time.”
There was movement in the trees. A dozen shapes emerged: Felix, Nicolas, Rick, Dane. Every one of them looked like ancient warriors carved from fury and stone.
Lola’s breath hitched when she saw Dane.
His eyes were locked on her. And they were wild.
Red Teeth laughed, “That’s better. Now, if you want her alive, I suggest you come out and play nice. Lay down your weapons. Surrender. Or I promise, I’ll let you watch her die first.”
Lola’s chest heaved.
“They’re gone!” she tried to scream, but her throat was raw, her voice barely a rasp. “The women are safe!”
Red Teeth’s backhand silenced her again. This time, she collapsed to her knees.
But something happened then.
In his rage, his pride, he stepped forward.
And the detonator swung from his belt.
Lola’s eyes locked on it. A flash of black and red, a clipped little trigger swaying right within reach.
She reached.
She didn’t think. Didn’t hesitate. Her fingers closed around the device-
And she pressed the button.
Everything went white.
And then, nothing.