“As far as I can estimate, we probably spent about two years under the brothers’ spell.”
“Two years? That’s insane.”
I couldn’t agree more, and while I wasn’t certain, with everything that Ricky and I had figured out, we were about as sure as we could be. If it weren’t for America and Jason also pitching in with rumors they’d heard, we’d likely still be in the dark.
“It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long.”
“I know, time is weird in our animal forms.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. I—” She straightened so suddenly she nearly knocked her bowl of broth from her tray. “I was with her!”
“With her? What do you mean?”
“I know where she is.” Andromeda turned to me, a manic grin on her face and tears in her eyes. “I know wheresomany of us are! I remembered.I remembered!”
“Look,I don’t want you to get your hopes up. None of our scouts have picked up any shifter scents so far, and we would have if they were around here.”
“No, I know they’re here,” Andromeda said, her voice almost beseeching.
I hadn’t really been keen on her coming to the cave she’d described from her memory, but her directions weren’t the best,and considering that wolves navigated by scent, we needed her to lead the way.
“I know it, Leo. I do!”
Ricky looked skeptical and opened his mouth to say something, but I shook my head. While I hoped Andromeda was correct, if she wasn’t, there was no need to argue with her about it. We would find out soon enough.
But I did truly, borderline desperately, hope she was right. The last thing I’d expected was a bowl of good soup and a conversation about cats to bring around the possible location of nearly a dozen of our missing pack members.
“This way,” Andromeda said, still gripping my hand tightly. “I think the cave is this way.”
“How did y’all end up in there again?”
“I don’t remember. I woke up there with no clue what was going on, and I was so hungry it felt like my stomach was going to turn itself inside out. I wandered into the night, but then I got turned around, and I followed this feeling in my gut that told me I was going the right way. It didn’t lead me back to the cave, though, it?—”
“Led you to us,” I finished.
“Exactly.”
I shot Ricky one last meaningful look, and he clamped his mouth shut. Despite all odds, we eventually stumbled upon a craggy opening at the foot of a steep hill, the kind that told of mountains not too far in the distance.
“There,” Andromeda said with a shaking finger. “They’re in there. I know it.”
Ricky and the two scouts with us began to step forward, but I held out my hand. I had no doubt whoever was in that cave was either terrified out of their mind or confused enough to be violent. They needed their alpha, and it was time for me to step up to my responsibilities.
“I’ve got this,” I said, striding forward. No one argued with me, which I appreciated, and I gave my eyes a moment to adjust before I walked farther into the darkness.
Even with my enhanced vision, there was nothing quite like the pitch black within a cavern, so after a moment I pulled out the phone Ven had given me and turned the flashlight on. I made sure not to shine it far into the cave since I didn’t want to blind anyone hiding there.
I pulled up a rumble in my chest as I walked, a deep, comforting alpha sub-harmonic that any of my pack would hear and feel. I didn’t want to surprise anyone, and hopefully they would be drawn to me the same way Andromeda had.
The going wasn’t exactly smooth, and there were two points where I had to drop down. Just as I was beginning to think no one was there, I heard it. A heartbeat. It was weak, more like a hummingbird than a wolf. Perhaps a starving wolf?
“I’m here to help,” I said softly, but any shifter would hear me. “I’m your alpha. You have nothing to fear. I’m here to protect you.”
It started off as soft noises, nothing more than the scrape against rock, but then I heard more heartbeats. I raised the phone slightly to illuminate more of the space, and I nearly burst into tears at the sight in front of me.
Andromeda was right. There were nearly a dozen humans in ragged clothing who looked more like cave people than modern citizens. They stared at me with confusion and fear, but also the tiniest flicker of familiarity.
“Come,” I said, offering my hand to the closest one. “Let’s take you home and get you something to eat.”
