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“We think we have a way,” I say. “We have never forgotten that you were with Ashe and helped when we escaped the Blighten. Let us repay you.”
“Show us how,” Dawson replies.
* * *
I climb back onto Doug’s back, and he guides the shifters through the hidden pathways until we arrive at a tiny fissure in the rock. Here he stops, allowing me to climb down.
“Ashe needs me,”Doug says.“And, besides, I cannot hope to fit. As you traverse between the rocks, the way will soon turn into a man-made passage, which leads into a cave. Jim and the lesser shifters are waiting there. Do not return to the pack until I can check whether it is safe. I will return for you soon.”
I pet the white fur of my beastly mate. “Take care, my love.”
He nudges me with his snout before turning and taking off at a trot.
I lead the shifters between the natural rock formations that, as Doug informed me, soon show the marks of human tools and lead to a cave where Jim and the lesser shifters wait.
Tavion’s remaining pack members shift to their human form, and Dawson once more steps to the front. “Do you know where they took her?”
“Aye,” Jim says. “She is being taken back to their lands through the tunnels. They mentioned a port city by the name of Bleakness.”
“I remember that port,” I say. It feels like a lifetime ago now when we arrived there by ship, and I think of Melody and how she aspired to become a pirate-captain. She is safe now, or she should be, as long as she was able to pass through the portal to the lands Winter hails from. It has been some time since I thought about the little girl, about Bard, Penny, and Bron, all of whom left for their own adventures. “Long ago, it went by the name of Port Ardin. There is frequent shipping there and also a trade route to the orc city of Krug.”
“That is a long fucking way through the mountain,” Dawson says.
“Aye,” Jim replies.
“What about the rest of our pack? Adam and Emric?” River asks. “Do you know where they are?”
“They were taken into the tunnels, too, although they left earlier than the party with the omega, maybe by half a day. They will have many hours’ head start.”
“Can we catch them in the tunnels?” Dawson asks. “Can we follow them?”
“Follow, yes,” Jim says, lips tugging up in the first smile that has crossed his face since I broke the news of Travis’ betrayal. “I’m not much of a fighter, but my sense of smell is excellent. I can track them.”
“As to whether we can catch them,” Dirk says, “That is not as certain. It is a long way—weeks, from what we heard. If we were to travel light and in wolf form, though, then we might be able to do it. The caves have water from the underground rivers running throughout and there is natural lighting from the pools and rocks sufficient for most shifters to see.”
“You will help us?”
“Aye,” Dirk says. “We will, for a price.”
“I have nothing to give,” Dawson says, confusion evident in his tone. “What price would you ask?”
“Freedom,” Dirk says.
“You are free to go anytime.” Dawson frowns, searching the faces of those of us who are gathered there.
“A person who stays somewhere because they have no place to go is not free,” I say, sorrow coloring my voice. “Those of us who are barely tolerated by Travis and his coterie know to keep our eyes open. Thus we know where you went today, and why.”
“Sparrowpit village?”
“Sparrowpit village,” I agree. “Or wherever you decide to go with your mate. Whatever happens, you will no longer be able to stay in the pack. If we help you, our place is similarly forfeit. We will go with you. We trust Tavion, for he was one of those who helped us escape the Blighten.”
“Our people have skills,” Dirk adds. “Having lived among humans all our lives, we can hunt, farm, and even work wood.”
“I am no leader,” Dawson says. “I cannot speak on behalf of mine.”
“You are right. Tavion is not here,” I point out. “But the four of you are, and you know his ways.”
The four young shifters turn to each other. Silence falls over the small cave, and I sense Tavion’s patrol members are communicating in their minds.
