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Wolf surprised me again when he followed me straight in. Showing a level of trust I wasn’t sure I’d earned. I felt for the metal tin on the shelf inside the doorway, before pulling out a candle and a box of matches. I knew there were some solar powered lanterns in here, but we hadn’t been back in a while, so they wouldn’t have any charge left.
With careful movements, I put the candle on another shelf further in and moved over to a trunk. I crouched down to open the lid and started riffling through its contents before pulling out some socks and boots. I pulled out a black shirt, too. It was a stretchy fabric and might fit. I knew none of the jackets or pants would fit. We were almost the same height, but he was a lot broader in the chest and fuller in the thighs than River or me. I’d been keeping an eye on him as he moved about the dugout, touching things. A wild animal sniffing out a new environment. I kept my movements slow and methodical, so as not to spook him in this confined space.
River and I had worked painstakingly to dig out a section of the hillside, then compacted the dirt walls and put in timber supports. Our hard work had paid off. It was still intact. Memories rushed me. We’d been eighteen, on leave from the military, and had thrown ourselves into the manual labor. We still hadn’t reconciled ourselves to Ava leaving us. Our bond had developed enough in our early teens, unnoticed by any of the adults in our lives, that her rejection when it came had caused physical pain. It had been almost three years since we’d seen her at that point, but the pain was just as intense as the day she’d left. There had been times I’d wondered if it would kill me. I didn’t want to even think about how bad it would have hurt if we’d claimed her before she left. I’d been tempted, a feeling of impending doom riding me, but we’d been far too young.
River had focused on getting her back as his way of dealing with the pain. He made plans, built a network of hideouts like this one. All ready to help her escape and shelter her if she ever needed it. He still thought we’d end up running away together one day. I got it. The thought of her being barked into submission by a strange alpha, with the Palace’s blessing, made me rage. Yet my anger at her betrayal flared just as deep. She had run from us instead of with us, and chosen to go to the Palace, of all places. To find a new mate.
My love for my brother had kept me going for the last ten years. I couldn’t stand to feel his pain when, in the dark of night, he despaired of ever getting her back. He blamed himself and it tore at me. I blamed her. I was just grateful his plan gave us both a purpose. It kept us moving. Even if the things we’d had to do to keep her safe had changed us. So I went along with it and kept my thoughts to myself. We were twins, though. I knew he could feel my anger, but we never talked about it again after the day we realized there was no getting her out of the Palace. At least, not before she had her debut.
I snapped out of my reverie as I felt eyes watching me. It wasn’t like me to zone out when someone else was around. It was weird how comfortable I felt around this strange giant of an alpha. I looked up to find Wolf watching me. I shook my head and jumped up from where I’d been sitting on the trunk. He’d settled on another one opposite me. I could hear the wind in the trees outside from the door we’d left open, and the birds that had started up their chirping again. It was quieter inside the dim dugout, with only the sound of our breathing.
“Swap,” I said, more brusquely than I intended. I sounded more like my brother than myself. My emotions were still riding me. I’d never been good at concealing them. Wolf watched me closely as he stood up and shuffled over to my side. His feet seemed to cause him some pain as he moved. It seemed his adrenaline had finally worn off. I passed him the shirt, socks, and boots. He nodded in thanks as he sat down and examined them. The shirt was a performance style long sleeved tee, designed to keep you warm, but also wick sweat away from your body.
Wolf effortlessly tore the ripped hospital scrubs off his chest. He dropped the shreds to the ground carelessly before he wrestled himself into the shirt. I could see it stretched to capacity around his muscled chest and biceps as he flexed, testing it. By some miracle, it held. It would keep him warmer, at least. Even if it showcased every ripple of his muscles whenever he moved. He belonged on the cover of a steamy novel. Maybe a wolf shifter story, with that shaggy mane. They were my secret weakness. River teased me endlessly whenever he found me reading one. He didn’t realize it was the packs in those taboo stories that drew me in, as much as reading the sexy scenes turned me on.
I glanced away from his chest when I noticed Wolf’s narrowed eyes on me as he tried to puzzle me out. He followed my gaze down to his feet. I turned back to the trunk he’d been sitting on before and pulled out some bottles of water and long-life energy bars. I couldn’t remember seeing him eat since we’d come across him last night. I threw a few at him and he caught them. His reflexes were good. I also pulled out a basic first aid kit. I approached him slowly and pointed to his feet. He nodded at me again, so I grabbed an empty crate, turned it upside down, and sat on it in front of him.
I gently picked up one of his legs so I could rest it across my lap and rolled his pant leg up as much as I could. I felt him tense briefly as I laid one hand carefully on his foot, before he relaxed and his leg sank heavier against my thigh. He closed his eyes and rested back against the wall of the dugout. I watched him the way he’d watched me earlier, and my curiosity piqued. It seemed my touch brought him comfort. I remembered how he’d relaxed when Cary had touched his chest last night, too.Interesting.
I filed my curious thoughts away to mull over later. With as much as this alpha had gone through, if touch soothed him, I wouldn’t deny him. I carefully washed and dressed each foot as best as I could with the rudimentary supplies I had before I pulled the socks over his feet. The rocks and twigs of the forest floor had cut his feet up, but not as bad as I’d feared. He opened his eyes as I pulled the boots on and laced them up loosely. They were a little snug with the bandages on, but they fit. He winced as I worked, but his eyes seemed even clearer than they had before we’d entered the dugout.
“Thank you.” He rumbled in that deep, scratchy voice. I wondered when the last time was someone had done something for him simply to care for him.
“Were you running, or running away?” I asked him. Hoping for any answer and an idea of what to do next. The idea of leaving him here didn’t sit well with me, but I also didn’t want to be gone from the Palace too long. I refused to examine why I didn’t want to stay away, or the itchy feeling I had to go back.
“Running,” he said simply. He was a man of few words. It was what I had suspected, though. I hadn’t gotten the feeling he was fleeing when he leaped from the balcony. More running through the wild because he could, and he’d been denied so long.
“Do you want to go back now?”
A flash of fear crossed his face for the briefest moment, before a determined look replaced it. He looked at his feet and grimaced as he tested them on the ground before he nodded. It was clear he’d walk over hot coals to get back if he had to. I felt like a coward. This alpha had no reason to return to a place where he had obviously been tortured. Yet he’d not only stayed when he first woke up, he’d sought Ava and Cary out and slept in an uncomfortable chair in their room, despite only knowing them for hours. I’d known Ava almost my whole life, and I was avoiding her because I didn’t want my worst fears confirmed. That she left because she didn’t want us. Or maybe just didn’t want me.
“Don’t worry about your feet. I’ve got you.” I said. My voice sounded suddenly rough. I jumped up, pushed the crate back out of the way, and moved to the dim rear of the dugout. Curious eyes followed me. I could feel them as I threw a tarp off two dirt bikes hidden in the back.
“I hope they still work,” I said as I grabbed a gas can. I hoped the gas was still good, too. It looked sealed tight. I glanced up to find Wolf had gotten up and followed me over. He ran his hand over a handlebar almost reverently.
“Do you know how to ride?”
I only barely made out his nod in the dim light, and I let out a relieved breath. I wasn’t sure one bike could take our combined weight.
“Okay, grab a duffle bag and start filling it with food, torches, anything that people might need back at the Palace. We’ll take as much as we can now, and if needed, we’ll come back for the rest later.” Every resource was valuable now that we couldn’t make more. Even the sturdy duffle bags.
We grabbed what we could fit, extinguished the candle and put the tin back in its place next to the door. Then we wheeled the bikes outside, and I slipped the hidden latch back into place as Wolf carefully rearranged the vines. He turned when he appeared satisfied and hopped on his bike eagerly. I thought I could see a grin through his shaggy hair. The suspension was straining, and the engine sputtered a little when he turned it on. But it ran. The smell of gasoline flooded the small ravine. He let out a wild whoop as the engine thrummed beneath him.
I turned my bike on and it reacted much the same, a few sputters before it settled down and ran smoothly. I angled my bike towards the bottom of the ravine and pointed towards the left, so Wolf would know which direction we would head. The ravine flattened out a few hundred metres around the bend and there was an old fire trail not far past it that led in the direction we needed to go.
I took a deep breath and steeled myself to go back to the Palace, and Ava, when a sudden realization hit me. All these years I’d stupidly thought that despite the pain, if I found her again, I could let her go this time. Let River have her and be done with it. I’d held onto my anger, hoping it would set me free, but I was a fool. I knew now, with absolute certainty, Ava had entwined herself so deep in my soul there was no escape.
Her scent and every stolen glance since I’d laid eyes on her again had yanked at me so hard I’d had to use all my strength to keep my feet firmly in place. And it wasn’t only her now. Wolf, Cary, and even Nick were pulling at me in the strangest way. It was a different pull, but they were still drawing me in. As if I’d known them my whole life. Staying away was not an option. I needed to face this, whatever it was.
The thought scared the hell out of me.
I felt a tap on my arm and looked up to see the eyes of an old, wild soul staring back at me.
“Me too,” he said, over the dull noise of the engines, and I knew exactly what he meant. My fear was reflected in his eyes, and he wasn’t hiding it this time. I could have pretended I didn’t hear him, or didn’t understand, but I wouldn’t do that to him. Wolf was baring his soul to me, and willing to lead with bravery. I could do no less.
“Why did you help us last night, and why did you stay this morning?” Wolf had not only rescued Ava and Cary last night, when we wouldn’t have gotten to them in time. He’d stopped when Nick appeared, rather than barrel over him, which he could have done easily. There had been no such hesitation with the rogue alphas on the street. He also hadn’t batted an eyelash when River and I had taken turns staying in Ava and Cary’s room alongside him.
He shrugged, and his eyes were wide, as if the question surprised him. As if it should be obvious. His answer came out in a deep rumble. “You’re pack.”
