Chapter 13 #2
“That won’t be a problem,” I promised as we broke through the tree line and an enormous wall came into view.
My eyes went wide. I hadn’t seen that before, not in my dreams, or in Hannah’s photographs. It must be relatively new.
Twenty feet tall and constructed from wooden posts, it looked like a medieval defensive fortification, the kind an opposing army would charge with pikes and horses. The path that we were on led to a large hinged gate where two particularly brawny alphas stood guard.
My anxiety roared back to life at the thought of entering a village full of alphas, and I tucked my body closer to Kyre’s side. Suddenly, his size and strength were a comfort.
I might not understand why he hated my guts, but at least I knew he was determined that I leave the Wilds alive. There was no guarantee the other ferus would feel the same way.
Upon seeing Tauren and Kyre, the alpha guards moved to swing open the gate, only pausing momentarily once they noticed me. But apparently, they knew not to ask questions, and we walked in as a group without problem.
I expected to feel strange and out of place when I stepped into the ferus village for the first time, but other than a deep sense of self-consciousness as alpha after alpha turned to stare at me, I felt strangely at home.
Or maybe it wasn’t that strange.
I knew this place.
There was the ring of one-room cabins that I’d seen plenty of times before—in dreams, hanging on gallery walls, plastered over the side of a city bus stop. Somewhere in this tangle of modest houses was Kyre’s home.
Along with his woodpile and axe.
His stairs and his door.
His bed.
The memory of all the things he’d done to me on that bed in my dreams rushed into my head, and suddenly I found myself fighting off a blush that threatened to light me up head to toe.
But it turned out those small shacks were only one part of the village. As we moved closer to the center of the village, it became clear there was so much more.
The village Kyre was leading me through was something straight out of a storybook. There were narrow crooked pathways and stone and timber buildings. Houses with thatched roofs and arched doors. Wild garden patches and cross-latticed windows.
Even though it was small—especially for someone who was used to LA—it was easily the most beautiful town I’d ever seen. There were houses of all different kinds and sizes. And around a wide, circular plaza at the very center of the village were the grandest homes of all.
I wasn’t surprised when Tauren and Kyre turned toward the most intimidating one of all.
Of course, this was where the pack leader lived. The place was only a few stones short of being a bona fide castle.
I was a little shaken when Kyre threw open the front door like he owned the place. Even Tauren and Hannah waited until he’d pulled me inside before following after.
“Where is the Lykaon, Helwin?” Kyre asked an impressively tall and slender woman who’d come running down the hallway at the sound of the door.
I half expected her to yell at him to get back outside and knock like a civilized gentleman. But then I remembered Kyre wasn’t civilized.
He was ferus.
Maybe this was just what passed as manners in a place like this.
“In the hall, Master Kyre.”
Master Kyre?
What was that about? Hopefully, he didn’t expect me to call him that because that wasn’t going to happen. Ever.
I got the sense that Kyre had been here plenty of times before. Not only did the people know him by name, but he also knew the layout of the house.
Without hesitation, he pivoted and started down a long corridor toward a set of thick double doors. And just like with the front door, he threw those open too, hard enough to send them crashing into the tapestry-covered walls.
“What the—Kyre!” a voice rang out. A distinctly feminine voice.
“Mother,” he said, tilting his head in greeting, but never taking his hand off mine.
This was Kyre’s mom? I wasn’t expecting that. My mouth fell open in shock.
She was a lovely woman, a few years past fifty, if I had to guess, with the most beautiful long white hair I’d ever seen. Twisted into an intricate braid, the length was slung over one shoulder, draping over a long blue linen dress.
She was just as tall and slim as the woman who had met us at the door. Did all ferus women look like this, I wondered. Like graceful runway models? Like fantasy elven queens?
A sudden rush of insecurity filled me at the thought. If that was true, then I could only imagine how plain and frumpy I must look to Kyre’s eyes.
No wonder he couldn’t stand the sight of me.
“Did something happen?” his mother asked, rushing over. Even her voice was light and beautiful. “Are you all right? And who’s this? Where did you find a kirre? What is she doing in the Wilds?”
With each rapid-fire question, I felt a ripple of tension run through Kyre’s body. It was obvious he didn’t want to answer any of them.
And he didn’t have to.
Instead, Tauren stepped up to save him from the onslaught.
“We found her alone in the forest a couple of miles from the village last night, Lykaon.”
Wait.
This was the Lykaon? The pack leader was a woman? I never would have guessed—not after all the testosterone-fueled aggression I’d witnessed over since my arrival.
On the other hand, it did help explain his strange behavior at the door.
At Tauren’s answer, the woman’s sharp blue gaze turned toward me. I could tell at a glance that her’s were the kind of eyes that missed nothing.
“The Wilds can be a dangerous place at night,” she said.
There was a second of silence before I realized everyone was expecting me to respond.
“I—uh, I get the feeling it’s pretty dangerous during the day too.”
Much to my relief, the Lykaon smiled. Apparently, that was the right answer.
“You can relax, dear. You’re safe in this house,” she said.
“Thank you.” Even though she’d assured me I was in no danger, I found it impossible to fully let my guard down, especially with Kyre buzzing with tension beside me.
“My name is Calindra. I see you’ve met my son, Kyre, as well as Hannah and Tauren.”
“They’ve been very kind,” I said. “I don’t think I would have survived the night without their help.”
“No, you wouldn’t have,” Kyre grumbled. Even though his voice was barely above a murmur, the sound bounced off the stone walls, echoing and amplifying for all to hear.
Calindra’s eyes snapped to her son’s face, then down to his hand, her gaze lingering for a long moment on the spot where he still clung to my wrist. For a second, I thought I spied a flicker of a smile race across her face, but in a flash it was gone.
“Kyre, is there a reason you’re restraining our guest?” she asked.
“She’s tried to escape before,” he answered.
“Escape?” The Lykaon’s perfect brows arched high. “Is she a prisoner, then? Has she committed some crime?”
I did my best not wince, thinking of the hole in his chest. While I didn’t know the first thing about ferus law, something told me that they weren’t the kind to look kindly on a kirre sneaking into their territory and wildly firing off shots.
But Kyre shook his head.
“No,” he responded without hesitation. “But her presence in the Wilds proves she doesn’t have the best judgment. I’m holding on to her for her own safety.”
“Interesting,” Calindra mused, drawing out the word as her gaze continued to linger on her son’s hand. Then, after an awkwardly long beat, she turned to me. “Though I am curious. What brought you here, Sophia?”
Drawing in a deep breath, I steadied myself before launching into the story of Felicity’s abduction again. I explained to her about the gala and the podcast. I told her about Chuck and Lash. I described in detail my desperate need to find my friend and bring her home. I laid it all out there.
Well, not all of it.
The part about the gunshots and the dreams I kept to myself.
“And that’s why I’m here this morning,” I said at the end. “To beg for your help in finding my friend. I know I have no right to ask, but I’m out of other options. I have nowhere else to turn.”
My stomach twisted into knots when she didn’t answer right away. Instead, she drew in a few deep breaths, focusing her painfully insightful gaze on my eyes, scanning for any sign of dishonesty.
I didn’t doubt for a second that she spotted all my lies of omission. I wasn’t that good of a liar. Definitely not good enough to fool someone with a gaze as keen as hers.
A sick feeling rose up in my guts as I waited for her to declare me a fraud and order me either tossed back over the Wall or thrown to the wolves.
I was shocked when neither of those things happened. After one last look at her son’s scowling face, her own expression lit up with a welcoming smile.
“Of course, we’ll help you find your friend, my dear.”
The sudden sense of relief at her words was so intense, I thought I might collapse on the floor. “Oh, my God! Thank you, Lykaon.”
“Please,” she said. “Call me Calindra.”
But not everyone was so happy with the news.
Next to me, Kyre shook with an anger so intense I thought he might shatter.
“Mother!” he shouted. “You can’t be serious. You know as well as I do that there’s no one to find. Lash killed that kirre within minutes of dragging her here.”
“Possibly,” Calindra conceded. “But there’s also a chance that he didn’t.”
“What chance?” Kyre demanded. “I can’t think of a single reason Lash would keep a kirre woman alive.”
“No?” Calindra’s chin tilted just slightly to the side. An amused glint lit up her eyes. “I find it interesting you can’t think of one reason. Because I certainly can.”
Apparently, Hannah could, too, because a little sound of surprise burst from her lips. “Oh!”
I snapped my head over to look at her, only to see her clasping both hands over her mouth. Whatever idea the women had come up with, neither of them wanted to share it with the group.
But it didn’t matter that I had no clue what they were thinking. I was just thrilled to finally have a sliver of hope to grab on to.
“Tauren.” Calindra directed her attention his way.
“Will you go to the front of the house and ask Helwin to send for Thorn?” After he’d nodded and headed toward the door, she glanced back at me.
“Thorn is our pack’s best tracker. I can’t guarantee that he’ll be successful, of course, but if anyone can find your friend, it’s him.
Once he arrives, you’ll need to sit down and share every detail about your friend and her interaction with Lash.
The more he knows, the more effective he can be. ”
“I’ll do my best.” I turned to Kyre. “Though it would be a lot easier if you hadn’t dropped the phone I gave you in the woods last night.”
With a deep grimace, he glared down at me. “You can talk to the tracker without it. And I’ll be there to fill in any details you forget.”
“Good,” Calindra said with a nod. “Then I’m sure Thorn will be able to start the search before nightfall.”
“Fine,” Kyre snapped. “But the moment Sophia is done talking with Thorn, I’m taking her back to her side of the Wall.”
“No,” I protested. “I can’t go. Not now. If this tracker finds Felicity, she’ll be traumatized and scared out of her mind. She’ll need someone here she knows. She’ll need me.”
“Sophia’s right.” Calindra nodded.
But hearing his mother agree with me only stoked Kyre’s frustration. His grip on me tightened—not enough to hurt or leave a mark, but to the point where I could feel the quaking of every fiery emotion inside him.
“No, she’s not,” he shot back. “If by some miracle of the Fates, Thorn does find this woman alive, we can just push her through the same tunnel, and the two can reunite in their own world.”
The Lykaon paused. She took a moment to stare at her son before moving across the hall, toward the ancient-looking stone fireplace that took up nearly the entire back wall.
“I find it curious that you’re so insistent on Sophia leaving,” she mused, her tone casual, but her penetrating stare anything but. “Why is that?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” he answered. “With Nelissa’s followers abducting random kirre women, her life is in danger. I refuse to have her blood on my hands.”
“And you’re certain there’s no other reason?”
“None.” He lifted his chin, practically challenging his own mother to call him a liar.
But I could tell in an instant that Calindra was far more crafty than that.
Instead, she simply gave a controlled nod. “In that case, I relieve you of your responsibility for Sophia’s life.”
Kyre’s mossy eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”
“Just that if you’re not interested in looking after her, then there are plenty of other alphas in this pack who would be happy to take care of her during her stay in the village. Zale, for instance, is a particularly fierce warrior. He’d be a good pick.”
“Absolutely not!” With a tug of his hand, Kyre whipped me behind him with a snarl.
“You don’t like Zale?” She sighed. “How about Ronan then? He can be very protective. One might even say possessive.”
A deep rumbling growl had started rolling in Kyre’s chest, and it grew louder with every word his mother said. It was plain to see that she was taunting her son...and he couldn’t resist taking the bait.
“I know what you’re doing, mother,” he snapped.
Calindra didn’t try hiding her teasing smile. “And what’s that?”
“You’re trying to taunt me into a jealous rage because you think there’s some kind of connection between me and this kirre,” he said.
“But you’re wrong. And to prove it to you, I will remain her guardian while she stays with the pack.
I’ll stay by her side every minute of every hour, day and night.
And in a week, when the search comes up empty, you can watch me as I lead her back to the Wall and let her go. ”