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ChapterFour
DAWSYN
The trees had grown denser as we traveled further. I could only see an arm’s length in front of me and the temperatures continued to drop, but not uncomfortably so. At least, not yet.
What seemed like another thirty-or-so minutes after we’d entered the forest, Knox finally slowed, then turned to face me. “I’m taking you into my home. You’re not a guest here. You’ll have to earn that right. Mate or not, I don’t trust you.”
Smart shifter.
“You won’t talk to anyone, and nobody will talk to you,” he continued. “If you continue to do as you’re told, then maybe you’ll have more privileges, but don’t think that just because you’ve done as you’ve been told thus far that I’m under the guise that you’re happy to be here.”
I was hoping Knox would be a bit more emotional about the situation and I could trip him, but it seemed as if he’d been preparing for this moment for quite some time. Very little was going to get in his way. Yet, I couldn’t help but wonder how I fit into the bigger picture, because nobody would have known about me until recently.
That question would have to wait until later.
“Okay,” I replied, seeing no point in trying to sway him so soon. We both knew where we stood, and I was good with that as long as he wasn’t going to try to take advantage of any normalmatethings.
If the fucker tried to kiss me or touch me in any way that wasn’t absolutely necessary, he’d be seeing a completely different side of me now that River was hopefully safe.
Knox eyed me a bit longer, seeming to not appreciate my easy compliance.
Good. There wasn’t anything Iappreciatedabout him either.
“This way, then,” he said, turning toward a grouping of five trees.
He held his hand in front of him and used the other to slash a claw across his palm. A small puddle of blood formed in the center there, and he pressed it against the middle tree before us.
A faint glow lit up around his fingers, and then the trees started to move…
What the fuck?
Bark from the five trees merged together, creating one large trunk.
Knox stepped back, and a moss-covered door appeared where his palm had just been. “Only my blood can open this door. Nobody is coming in here to save you, so if you thought Drago would be where Cillian could find you again, you thought wrong.”
I gave no reply to him. Yes, I hoped to see Cillian here, but I wasn’t counting on him to save me. That I could do myself. If Knox thought I was going to rely on anyone else to get the job done, that would be even better for me.
He pushed the tree door open and gestured for me to go ahead. “Ladies first.”
Now he wanted to have manners? Like that made a damned difference.
Still, I went ahead and cringed when the stairs descended. Small, underground spaces weren’t a favorite of mine, but I stiffened my shoulders and kept my eyes forward. I wouldn’t show any fear while I was here.
I was an alpha wolf. I could survive whatever I was about to find in this place. Even more, I would figure out what the hell was going on.
Twenty-seven steps later, the stairs deposited us into a cavernous room with boxes stacked everywhere. The only light I’d seen since walking through the door were small bulbs that seemed to be lit with magic. There were no cords or switches that I’d spotted yet.
Though, in this room, there were probably over a hundred of the little lights, making it almost blindingly bright given how dark the forest had been.
There were five openings within the room, including the one we just entered from. The others appeared to lead toward dark hallways, and of course didn’t have any signs above them to indicate what else was down here.
The walls were merely smoothed-out red dirt and cool to the touch. The floor seemed to be more of the same.
Knox brushed past me, and I flinched away from him when his heated skin touched my shoulder. He didn’t miss the action, which had him smirking, but the look didn’t last long.
An elderly woman entered through the third opening. She had short silver hair that ended just past her ears and piercing blue eyes that landed right on me.
“What is she doing here?” the woman spat.
