Chapter Twenty-Two
Benjamin
The rogues were annihilated within seconds and I was drenched in blood, not really, but it was a damn close thing.
It was obvious that both of my men loved killing from the smiles on their faces.
They weren’t there this time. Not when the rogues were like sitting ducks as they killed them off. Not one fought back.
I turned around to scan the rest of the basement and found a black door that had seemed like a part of the wall. It wasn’t until now that I noticed the handle. “I think we need to clear out the whole basement before we leave,” I said, pointing to the door. “Do you smell anything coming from there?”
“Mud,” Chris answered, sniffing around the room before stopping right in front of the closed door. “It’s either leading outside the hotel, or to some sort of tunnel.”
Zar stepped around us and opened the door, not allowing me to be the first one to face whatever was behind it.
Normally, I would’ve listened to the door and eased it open slowly, but now I had two men that wanted to keep me safe and it was sort of nice feeling looked after like that.
I mattered to them even now when they didn’t need me to survive, or at least I didn’t think they did.
Zar would die without me to feed from, but now he could feed from Chris, and Chris would die of broken mate bond, but perhaps he wouldn’t with one mate bond still intact.
I had to force those thoughts away. I would learn what happened the day one of us died and I didn’t want that day to ever come.
Better keep some mysteries as just that, mysteries.
“It is a tunnel,” Zar whispered, and from his whispered tone alone, I knew he feared we could be heard.
I followed Zar with our alpha behind me and saw a carved-out tunnel.
There were walls held up by wooden posts but the sides and ground were all mud.
The door closed behind us and there was no more light guiding my way.
I grabbed my phone, using the flashlight to see, needing the help while my men walked without issue.
We walked in silence through the damp air and I despised each step we took. Not knowing what we would find at the end had me fearing it. Adding in the lack of light didn’t help much either.
“I smell witches,” Chris snarled just as an opening to the left came up. We weren’t at the end yet, but there was definitely either a room or another exit here.
Zar rushed ahead, entering the room with Chris and I right behind him. The room had no door, just an opening and inside were tables and chairs. It was makeshift and likely the place they met up with Gabriella. It was empty now, but I could tell Chris smelled them as he moved around the room.
There was still no electricity, but they had several candles scattered around the room, making it look like a place for sacrifices. It most likely was, to be honest.
“How long?” Zar asked.
“A day at most,” Chris replied instantly. “I smell humans too.”
“You think this is where they were turned?” I asked, using my phone to scan the room.
“Definitely,” Zar growled. “The room smells of old blood.”
“There’s also this scent of medicine or chlorine. I can’t really pinpoint it,” Chris said, sniffing around the room.
“We should head further down the tunnel. I think it will lead us outside.” My men listened to my plea and we walked the rest of the way and found the door we knew would be there.
Zar was the first out and he scoffed out a laugh. “I finally understand how they found so many humans.”
Chris and I left the tunnel and scanned the area. It was a camping site, and the door had a sign above it, with toilet written on it. “That doesn’t explain how hundreds of people decided to camp here and then enter,” I pointed out. Had I camped here I would’ve never entered that building.
“Not even if something was chasing you? Or making scary noises at night?” Zar asked innocently.
I gasped. “You think Gabriella hunted them inside?”
He shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. All I know is that this is where the tunnel leads and we now know how the witches kept in touch with Gabriella.”
“You want to ambush them here tonight, don’t you?” I sighed, already accepting my fate of never getting any beauty sleep.
“No, I think they’re done with Gabriella, so they likely won’t show up here ever again. But we can get their scents and maybe find their homes. Or at least a direction.”
We both looked at Chris who huffed and began sniffing.
The area was big and filled with forgotten tents and campfires.
There was one cabin further away. It was likely one you could rent or for rangers to stay in if there were too many animal attacks.
The most obvious thing was that we were far into the middle of the woods.
This could very well be how the rogues got out and not just through the scrap yard.
They likely didn’t have enough control over them at first, which meant they left through the back door.
This exit seemed better fitting if they didn’t want to get caught, though.
Chris sniffed around and then snarled in frustration. “Their scents are scattered! It’s like they knew this would happen!”
“Let’s go back to the car,” Zar sighed. “We can walk through the woods and get back that way. I don’t want—” He sniffed the air, growled, and then in a dash, he was in front of the cabin, tearing the door clean off and rushing inside.
Chris and I ran towards the cabin, Chris running slower to match my speed, then Zar stomped out with a rogue vampire, holding him by his throat. The rogue screamed as the sun hit him, turning him into dust before our eyes.
“What happened?” I demanded once we were next to Zar.
“That,” he said, pointing to the dust. “Was Tom.”
“What was he doing out here?” I asked no one in particular.
“My guess,” Zar sighed. “Likely he was a way to control Gabriella. They knew she couldn’t leave in the daylight hours so they were keeping her in place by having Tom someplace else.”
“She could just go to him at night,” I argued.
“No, because they were here each night. I think they had more control over her than we think,” Zar said.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I tried again. “What would they gain keeping them apart? She couldn’t do anything to Tom.”
Zar shrugged. “I have no idea, that was just my guess on why.”
“Was there anything else in the cabin?” Chris asked, sniffing the air.
“Tom was wearing a red necklace. I left it in there.”
“So, they were controlling him,” I mused, rubbing my chin.
“Um, Benji?” Chris sounded a tad sad as he said my name, making me look at him confused.
“Yes?”
“Where are my clothes?”
“Will you stop with the puppy eyes!” I snapped. So, what if I’d lost Chris’ clothes somewhere in the hotel between them killing rogues and wading through a dark tunnel. It wasn’t as if I’d done it on purpose!
“Just try and see if I’ll ever shift around you again.”
I rolled my eyes. We were finally on the way to his house to get some down time.
Zar had called Altaur once we were back in the car—after a long walk with a displeased alpha wolf—and Altaur had ordered us to return to the hotel and grab our things, and then leave the city and return to Keen.
Apparently, werewolves needed their alpha around and Chris being gone for so long meant they weren’t faring well.
It hadn’t been long, in my opinion, but I couldn’t really tell how a werewolf should feel.
“We’ll be home soon,” Zar interrupted with a fond tone before I could snap at Chris again.
The word home hit differently this time.
My home had been a cold apartment that was my refuge and nothing more.
Now my home was these two infuriating men, but I still wouldn’t be without them, however crazy that felt to acknowledge.
Chris seemed to brighten at the idea, too, a small smile forming on his lips.
“I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed tonight.
” And with those words my mood plummeted.
His bed. Would I sleep alone in a guestroom?
Was there even room for me? Zar didn’t need more than a power nap to function, but I would enjoy actually getting some sleep for once.
We drove the last five minutes in silence until Zar declared we’d arrived. How he knew where Chris lived was a mystery. Actually, it really wasn’t. Of course, Zar had figured out where he lived. He likely knew of my poor excuse for a home as well.
We got out of the car, Chris all but skipping inside, eager to be where he felt at home the most. I suddenly longed for my cold apartment.
Our bonding had been forced and hurried, so even though I’d accepted them, I still got these sprouts of doubt, simply because I’d yet to truly know them.
They were mine, I knew that, but I still had a lot to learn before my self-doubt could be quieted.
I was the next to enter, feeling calm instantly as the scent of pine trees surrounded me. This was Chris’ home. There was no doubt about that.
“Maybe a shower and some clean clothes would do us all good,” Zar suggested as he locked the door behind him, dropping our bags on the floor with his many shopping bags.
Chris clapped his hands, rubbing them together. “A shower sounds amazing.”
I just nodded and followed their lead. I didn’t have anything clean left, so a shower wouldn’t be very effective in the end, but it was easier to just follow and quiet my mind for a bit.
“This is the guest room with an attached bathroom,” Chris waved his hand at the room and I dutifully walked inside. It was like my body was running on stubbornness alone. I had zero energy left after these eventful days and I knew I would soon shatter or pass out.
The room had a queen bed, two night stands and one dresser.
The bathroom door was open so I went straight there, eyeing the free-standing tub with a mix of dread and excitement.
I was excited to get in but dreaded getting out of it again.
I doubted I would have the energy to pull my body out once it had started to relax.
I closed the door behind me, ignoring the muttered voices of my men as I turned the water on and undressed. Maybe I needed to see a therapist or something, my mind and body were working, but I felt so empty. So… cold.
When the tub was half full, I got in, sitting down and hugging my legs, then I closed my eyes and grasped the one thing I felt like doing.
I cried.