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“It’s the lodge we attacked 15 years ago,” Titus said, staring at it. “I won’t forget it... ever. Whether they have another lodge? I suppose that’s possible.”
And something he should have considered and asked about, Ryder thought. He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. And in doing so, he triggered the sixth sense that said there were shifters here. “Shifters,” he said out loud. “We’re at the right place.”
Benny’s nostrils flared too. “A dozen, maybe?” he muttered, puzzled. “That makes almost less sense than abandoned.”
“All right,” Ryder said. “Pair up. I want three men to shift. Act as if there might be bombs, traps, you name it. Whatever war you fought in, this could be worse.”
“Tunnels? Nothing worse than tunnels,” someone said.
“There could even be tunnels,” Ryder said, considering the building. “Or at least a basement. But shifters built this hellhole. And we’re good at killing.”
There was a murmur of agreement at that. Some of the worst battles in human wars had been between squads of shifters. It was disconcerting the first time —you thought of shifters as having an allegiance to other shifters, not the countries they served. And of course that wasn’t so.
“Let’s go,” said the security team leader. Two of his men shifted, along with Kev. The three teams started toward the building. Ken, Titus and Benny stayed at his back. And God help him, he was grateful for it. He didn’t like this at all.
“Can you get a better sense of where they are?” Ryder asked Benny. He could tell there were shifters in there, and that they weren’t moving around. But Benny had been able to get a count.
Benny considered it. “Basement?” he said tentatively. “Check your pack bonds, Ryder. See if any of them are Penticton pack.”
Good idea. He looked inwardly, checking the pack that lived in the back of his mind. He paused. Interesting. He still had Okanogan pack bonds too? How could that be? He set that aside; it wasn’t relevant to the problem at hand. But he spared Titus a suspicious look. Titus just looked puzzled.
Just because a paranoid man lived longer, he examined the Okanogan bonds. No, only the one to Titus and two of his own Wolves seemed local. For a moment he had worried that McKenzie might have kidnapped more Okanogan pack than just Titus. But no.
As for the Penticton bonds.... “Two Penticton wolves,” he said tensely. “And they’re in bad shape. Let’s go.”
He started forward even as Ken protested. He could follow those two bonds, and they were hurting, God damn it. He was jogging by the time he reached the building’s front door. He paused there, when Benny touched his arm. He looked at his brother; Benny had a pistol in his hand. “You have that all along?”
“Ankle holster,” Benny said absently. He handed Ryder a knife. “Here.”
Ryder took it without protest. “They’re downstairs,” he said. “Thereisa basement.”
“It’s a trap,” Ken muttered. Ryder didn’t disagree.
Titus pointed to the left. “Down that way,” he said. “The stairs to the basement are over there.” He took the lead, and Ryder followed.
“You could wait and pull in the others,” Benny said quietly, not letting the others hear. Ryder appreciated that.
“They’re dying,” Ryder said tensely, and he knew it was true. He didn’t know why they’d been left here to die, but they had been. Benny didn’t say anything more.
The stairs were in better shape than he would have guessed. There was no electricity, so they were dependent upon their sight as shifters. And the stairwell was dark, but Ryder thought there had been at least some work done here. He shook his head.
Titus tested each step before putting his weight on it. He took his time, and no one rushed him. This was foolhardy at best, no use making it worse. They were silent. Ryder let his wolf surge close to the surface, and he felt the familiar alertness that meant his wolf was there. His eyesight sharpened. His hearing picked up the even breathing of the men around him. The night air had textures it hadn’t had.
And there were smells. There were dead bodies down here. Ryder glanced back at Benny, who was one stair behind him. Benny nodded once. He smelled it too. It wasn’t just in his mind then; he wasn’t reliving one of the memories that haunted him — because this was right out of his nightmares.
“Last step is out,” Titus said quietly. He hopped to the floor. “Floor’s good.”
Ryder closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. You’d think a man as old as that man was would have better sense than to test the floor by jumping down on it.
The hallway ran to the left and to the right. Ryder checked the bonds. “Right,” he said, barely a whisper. Titus went to the right, and one by one, they stepped down over that last broken step and followed him.
The dark smothered him. It was rare for it to be so dark that a shifter couldn’t see something. But a basement hallway with no light would do it. And the sense of threat made it worse. In spite of the cold, he was sweating. Fear sweat. He could smell it. His sweat, the sweat of the others.
Fear. Who had said the only thing they had to fear was fear itself? It was true, especially in a situation like this. If one man gave into his fear and lost control, it would spread amongst them all. Especially if it was him. He was the Alpha; they took their cues from him. He swallowed hard.
“Easy,” Benny said quietly.
Ryder nodded. He touched the pack bond he’d been following. “Here,” he said softly, stopping at a closed door. “They’re in here.”
