Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
Feet aching and legs trembling with weariness, Lash led me forward into the…the…what was this place?
It was too small to be a town. Too shabby to be a military camp.
My eyes fell over the handful of rough, temporary-looking lean-tos propped up against massive redwood trunks. Sprinkled randomly between the trees, I couldn’t make out any rhyme or reason to the layout. No sense of order at all.
And definitely no luxuries. No walls. No doors.
Not even a fire pit to serve as a central hub.
Just a dozen or so alphas sleeping on the bare ground under the meager protection of their slapdash shelters.
This place had more in common with a shanty town than the enchanting fairytale-like village Hannah Carter had captured in her photos.
Heads poked up from leaf litter pillows as Lash guided me through the shambles.
Sickly yellow light trickling out of lanterns glinted off snarling fangs.
From the corner of my eye, I caught flashes of claws snapping out from fingertips.
Slowly, a chorus of growls filled the air, low and threatening.
A terrible sense of dread took hold deep within my belly. My stomach churned with fear, sending a surge of burning bile up into my throat.
I was starting to rethink my whole better a short but happy life philosophy. Maybe a long and miserable one wasn’t so bad after all…especially when the alternative was being torn apart by a pack of angry alphas.
Still, I somehow managed to keep my head held high as I was paraded past the enemy. Not because I was particularly brave, but because I was all out of adrenaline. I’d used up my last drops hours ago.
I literally had no more fight left inside. The best I could muster was a few scraps of bitterness and a small serving of defiance.
If I was going to die here—and it was really looking like I was—then I was determined to go out with the last few shreds of my dignity intact. I kept my chin up and my gaze glued to the back of Lash’s head as he steadily pulled forward—toward the one real structure in this ramshackle camp.
At the far end, past all the resting alphas, stood a large tent.
On its own, it wasn’t grand, just a simple ten-foot square with a high vaulted roof, its walls made from a patchwork of hastily stitched together animal hides.
But compared to the Spartan conditions I’d just seen, the simple shelter was practically a mansion.
Even before I set foot inside, I knew it was Nelissa’s tent. It had to be.
Lash pulled back the simple flap that served as a door. I steeled myself as I stepped through the opening, ready to face whatever lay inside.
At least I thought I was ready.
Between Lash’s promises of painful death and the terrifying welcome I’d received from her alphas, I’d expected Nelissa’s tent to be set up like a torture chamber.
My mind had been filled with images of iron maidens and stretching racks.
Of tables filled with rusty knives and pliers.
Of chains and manacles hanging from bloodstained beams.
But reality was much stranger.
There was nothing dark or dangerous about the place. Quite the opposite, actually.
Instead of fire pits for branding irons, gold and silver lamps radiated warm light over luxurious fur rugs.
Richly colored drapes hung from the ceiling, neatly sectioning off different quarters of the tent.
One for lounging. Another for eating. One filled with clothes.
And though the curtains were drawn around the last corner, I spotted a sliver of a bed piled high with thick blankets and soft linens.
Clearly, Nelissa didn’t feel the need to suffer through the same conditions she imposed on her men.
“Lykaon,” Lash said, his stance wide and his hands clasped behind his back like a good little soldier.
Behind the curtain, sheets rustled.
“Lash?” a beautifully melodic voice called out. “Is that you?”
“It is,” he responded. “I’ve returned from the Wall with a kirre.”
There was a slight pause before she answered. “Give me a moment.”
My body still aching, I shifted back and forth on my feet as a horrible anticipation buzzed inside me. Part of me hoped the woman would never poke her head out from behind the curtain, while another part couldn’t wait for it to be over.
But what was really disturbing was the urge I had to move closer to Lash as my fear intensified.
He’s not your friend, I reminded myself.
He might have carried me here, but that didn’t mean he cared about me. I was just a mission to him. A set of orders to be carried out. A package to be delivered and then promptly forgotten about…until it came time to get rid of me.
The lump in my throat swelled at the thought, just as the curtain swung wide to reveal my would-be torturer.
Just like the interior of her tent, Nelissa was nothing like I’d imagined.
Though I’d never seen a female ferus before, I’d imagined them as slightly smaller versions of alphas, complete with rough features and bulky muscles. But the woman standing in front of me was the polar opposite of all that.
Runway model tall and slender, everything about her was elegant. Stepping out away from her bed, she moved with an otherworldly grace, her legs seeming to almost float beneath her.
“You’d been gone so long, Lash. I was starting to worry you’d abandoned us,” the woman said, her jewel-like green gaze drifting over to the alpha.
“Never, Lykaon,” he answered.
As much as I hated to admit it, everything about her was beautiful, from her perfect skin to her sparkling eyes. Even the sharp edge to the smile that lifted her lips as her gaze locked onto mine was perfect.
Cold, but perfect.
I couldn’t help it. My jaw fell open in awe at the sight of her.
I was so astonished I forgot to flinch as she stepped closer, stopping right in front of me. It wasn’t until she lifted one of her long, flawless fingers and hooked it underneath my chin, tilting my face up to better examine me, that I remembered my survival instincts.
Twisting my head away from her touch, I shuffled back—but I could go far. After just a few steps, the leather cord around my wrists pulled taut. Lash held tight to his end of the leash, stopping my retreat.
Nelissa’s smile widened at my reaction. She graced her soldier with an approving nod.
“Where did you find this one?” she asked.
“Just outside the Wall,” Lash answered. “In the same area where Tauren discovered Hannah.”
“I’m not surprised,” Nelissa scoffed, before turning her attention back to me. Her crystalline eyes swept over my body, sizing me up. It was clear she wasn’t impressed by what she saw. “The kirre are like ants. Where one goes, countless others are bound to follow.”
“You were right,” Lash agreed. “There were two others with this woman when I found her. A man and a woman.”
A vicious kind of glee filled Nelissa’s eyes. “I take it they didn’t survive your initial attack.”
The muscles along Lash’s back stiffened. His shoulders tightened as his stance grew more rigid.
“I let them go, Lykaon,” he answered.
The tension in the room tightened as the woman stilled. Though she was nowhere as physically large as the alpha, it was clear that Nelissa held significant psychological power over her men. Her disapproval filled the tent, cold and heavy.
“Now, why would you do that?” Her silvery tone sharpened.
“So they could spread the story to the rest of their kind,” he explained, “and warn the kirre what would happen if anyone else tried to enter the Wilds.”
“Two mutilated corpses would have had the same effect.” Her obvious disappointment at the lack of carnage sent shivers up my spine.
“I respectfully disagree, Lykaon,” Lash said. “I believe it would have only brought more of their kind.”
“How so?”
“This kirre told me it was curiosity that drew her to the Wilds,” he said. “She says she felt compelled to solve the mystery surrounding Hannah’s disappearance.”
“She told you?” Nelissa’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me you actually conversed with this pathetic thing?”
“Not exactly,” he said. “You know what they’re like. Once a kirre starts talking, they don’t stop.”
What? He’d said just as much as I had tonight. Maybe more.
“You could have silenced her,” Nelissa noted.
Lash shook his head. “You tasked me with bringing you a living kirre. One who was in good enough shape to answer your questions. I wasn’t about to risk failure just because of a little annoyance.”
Nelissa must have accepted his answer since she stopped peppering the alpha with questions and snapped her attention toward me. Her gaze narrowed as she carefully studied my face.
“So you like to talk?” she asked, addressing me directly for the first time. Her voice was tight and her tone taunting. “You can start by telling me the name of the alpha you came here to find?”
Oh my God. Not this again.
I exhaled, a deep groan of frustration creaking out of my throat.
“I’m not here for anyone,” I repeated for what felt like the thousandth time. “I’m not looking for a mate, and I’ve never dreamed about any alphas.”
A smile flashed across the woman’s face. “Then how do you know about the dreams?”
Easy. “Lash told me about them.”
Nelissa glanced over at the alpha for confirmation. I expected him to throw me under the bus, but he gave a single, tight nod instead.
“Now, why would he do that?”
It was impossible to tell from the way she was staring daggers at Lash which one of us she was asking. But since the alpha hadn’t sacrificed me to save his own ass, I figured the least I could do was return the favor.
“He didn’t believe me when I told him why I was at the Wall.”
“Of course, he didn’t,” she scoffed. “Because you were lying.”
“It’s the truth.” I couldn’t stop the resigned sigh that spilled out of my throat. “I don’t care what you believe.”
“You should,” Nelissa shot back. “Don’t you know I hold your life in my hands?”