AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 6
Meira
Ashiver passes over me as we turn and drive up a long, narrow road. We’ve been going for hours up through the rocky hilltop of the Carpathian Mountains, and the closer we get to Dušan’s pack, the more my stomach feels uneasy.
Outside, undead linger near and more stumble out of the woods. This is never a good sign, because it means they’ve sensed blood or they remember feeding in this location before. They remember areas.
We drive up to a pair of solid metal gates standing at least fifteen feet tall. A similar fence with barbed wire across the top stretches out on either side of the gate and around the whole settlement. The place looks ominous with a penitentiary vibe.
Gigantic pines lean low over our path, but the ones near the settlement have been chopped, with only stumps remaining. They’ve done everything possible to stop the undead and intruders from getting into their settlement.
I look ahead and spy an enormous medieval building beyond the fence and up on the hill. My mouth falls open with utter surprise.
“Your pack lives in a damn castle?” I gasp, staring at the steadfast stone walls, the pointy towers, the crenellations across the top. I’ve read about such places in books that Mama found for me when we’d ransack abandoned homes. But this is first time I’ve been near one.
“It’s Râ?nov Fortress,” Dušan explains. “Knights built this place long ago to protect local villages against invasion from other countries. The Saxons later expanded the structure. And now, the Ash Wolves call this place home.”
I nod, unable to stop staring up at the fortress that seems to take up most of the mountain. This whole time, I assumed the wolves lived in wooden shacks in the forest to keep safe from the Shadow Monsters in the most secure location. Not… in afortress.
We come to a stop right near the gate. Movement from the right-hand side of the car draws my attention. Two of the Shadow Monsters are moving quickly toward us, mouths gaping open, eye sockets sunken, arms filthy and covered in dried blood and mud. One of them is half-rotten with a hole ripped out of his side, the bottom rib visible. I almost gag at the sight.
His head suddenly jerks sideways, then his body flops to the ground from the momentum. He lands in a ditch and doesn’t move. Damaging the brain or decapitation are the best ways to kill them once and for all.
I glance up to the fence and spot a sniper with a rifle. The second monster goes down just as fast. It’s easy when there are only a few…but facing several hundred at once is a different story.
I crossed a swarm once, caught off-guard as they poured out of the woods near a river I had been bathing in. They left me alone, but being invisible to them meant they shoved and pushed and stamped over me when I fell over. I don’t even know how I survived, but that was the day I decided my shelter had to be in the trees.
A crow swoops down to the ground and hops over to the dead. It pokes at a wound on the man’s side, then flutters off in an instant. Not even scavengers will eat the plagued.
The gates slide open and we are on the move again. I glance back as the doors shut quickly with a final sounding clink.
We drive along a curvy road that takes us farther up the mountain, and the more distance we cover, the more my chest clenches. Pine trees coat the hill in every direction, and amid them I notice wolves roaming about. Their heavy coats of black and gray are matted, and their lips curl dangerously over sharp teeth at our presence as we drive past.
At the top of the hill, lies the fortress. An oversized drawbridge lowers in front of us and we drive inside before finally coming to a stop in a large cobblestone courtyard. Half a dozen other vehicles are parked here.
The two shifters climb out of the car swiftly. My stomach tightens as Lucien approaches and lets me out.
As I climb out, he takes my hand, instead of the rope binding my wrists. Then he moves with fast steps away from the vehicle. Gorgeous floral and fruit trees pepper the area, and they feel so out of place. Stone houses that resemble smaller versions of castles surround the court. We walk past them, and I note lanes darting between them to more buildings behind them. There are more and more people everywhere the farther we travel. Men only… My heart is pounding wildly. Where are the women and children?
All I want to do is cry.
Everything feels foreign. All I’ve known for so long has been the woods and small settlements here and there with only females. But this…this place is so immense, it intimidates me.
The other shifters glance my way, eyeing me head to toe. I bristle and shy away from them, only to bump into Lucien.
“We need to go fast.” There’s panic in his voice, which in turn has my pulse racing.
I take a deep breath, trying to control the tremors as I push back the fear coiling inside me.
Dušan strides ahead of us, all muscles and so tall—even the way he moves is attractive. All the shifters we pass tap their fists twice to their chests as they acknowledge their Alpha.
I try to remind myself whom I’m dealing with now. Gone is my assumption he’s just a normal shifter. This is Dušan…the Alpha whom I’ve heard so many horrible rumors about. I haven’t exactly seen that side of him yet…if I exclude the arrogance, dominance, and kidnapping. But as he looks back at me, I worry I might get to meet that monster very soon.
At the end of the yard stands a gigantic building comparable with a castle. It’s made of sandy stones and has three towers attached to it, with pointy roofs, and numerous arched windows. A large balcony encircles the top third floor. Guards stand outside the front, and more male shifters are pouring out of their homes, many of them sniffing the air and staring at me with too much interest. The guards’ expressions reminds me of the shifter in the woods who attacked me.
Panic chokes me, and we take long steps now.
The guards step aside, and Dušan pushes open the metal door so we can enter the castle. It’s dimly lit inside, the walls stone and barren of any paintings or decorations. A grand staircase with black, curled railings sits ahead of us. There is an empty feeling about the place, and it’s only when I look closely at the details that I see the claw marks in the stone walls and wooden floor. The dent in the banisters to the stairs. Three claw marks even streak the ceiling where a candle chandelier hangs.
