Page 16 of Mated By the Pack
“I-I’ll fight, Nurse Calla,” Fiona whispers, looking up and blinking. “I will. Even if I’m scared. I’d rather fight than let men… have their way with me.”
“I know you will, Fiona,” I say, squeezing her hand, then making eye contact with Tansy. She’s on the verge of tears again. Tansy has cried more than two canteens of tears since this morning. I have no idea where it’s coming from. The reservoir should be dry. “And you too, Tansy. You need to turn those tears into rage. Listen, I’m a nurse. We have something inside of us. Something scientists struggled to understand, even before the Great War. A mother could lift heavy beams to save her child. A coal miner could balance a mineshaft on his back while dozens made it tosafety. They weren’t just legends… When we’re backed into a corner?—”
“Shut the fuck up!” Jed roars, pounding his canteen against the bars. “The only thing you bitches do is whisper and cry. You won’t be talking much longer. You’ll be too busy sucking what’s in your mouth.”
Jed laughs, smirks, and winks at us before walking back to the campsite.
I glance at the others. No one says a word. Fiona reaches out and grips my arm. Tansy curls tighter into herself. Nara’s eyes are locked on the slavers like she’s studying every move. Even Brenna looks shaken. The key pulses differently now. Like my emotions are coiled into the vines, and it feels what I do.
“Fuck,” I say, my heart pounding wildly in my chest. “We fight. That’s what we do.”
If The Tangle has given me a key, then I’m going to use it, but I’m still afraid of what is out there in the darkness. Things that cause Frank to tense up. We won’t survive if beasts like that hunt us. That leaves The Outpost. A lawless place, I’m assuming. Nothing like the safety Haven North’s walls provided—weresupposedto provide. But it’s our only option.
From what we’ve overheard, we’ll arrive tomorrow. They have to open the cage at some point, even if it’s to pull one of us out. That’s when we are planning to fight, if we have to. We will not be taken willingly. But with this key, we may be able to avoid a fight. If we make it to The Outpost, the second they are distracted, we can escape. I’m assuming the key will open this cage. I haven’t tried it yet.
“I’ll take first watch tonight,” Carl announces, stretching his arms. “That way I can rest up for tomorrow. I’ve got business to attend to. By this time tomorrow, we’ll have some gold in our pockets, instead of silver.”
“And we’ll have some time to spend it before we have to make this trip again, right?” Jeb asks.
“That’s up to the buyers,” Carl chuckles, glaring at us for a moment before lowering his voice.
We can’t hear what they’re saying, but they seem to agree with Carl taking first watch. Jed and Jeb go to sleep fairly quickly. Frank takes a while to sit down, and it doesn’t look like he’s fully asleep. His ears twitch every time a branch snaps.
I’m taking first watch inside the cage, so I help the others get settled. I’m not tired tonight. I should be, but the way the key pulses seems to give me energy. I’m scared to say I like the way it feels.
Carl doesn’t say anything or even look at us for most of his watch. Toward the end of it, he gets up, and based on his stagger, it’s not water in the canteen he’s been sipping from. He looks like he’s going to walk our way, but veers toward Frank and gives him a shake.
“Your turn, I’m going to bed,” Carl announces, stumbling to his makeshift bunk and collapsing. Not his most graceful moment.
Frank is on his feet in a snap. He raises his head like he’s inhaling everything around him before peering into the darkness. After a few pulses of the key pass, he lowers his head and turns his attention to the cage. I don’t tense up when he approaches, despite the fact I’m positive he could dismember me before I could blink.
“I’ll get you some more rations,” Frank growls, putting a canteen of water down inside the cage.
As Frank counts the rations, I feel the key radiating with a different kind of energy. Like it is connecting me to… something else. Frank’s pain. Just like last night. His longing. His loss. Everything that makes his heart continue beating.
He puts the rations in the cage, and my hand lunges for him before I even know what is happening. My hand has a green tint. It catches his armor, and I somehow pull the behemoth toward the cage. It feels like moving a mountain with my bare hands.
Then words flow out of my mouth that are not my own.
“You are not the last. There is another Pride. A Pride without a king,” I chant, green flickers in the air appearing and disappearing against Frank’s startled emerald gaze. “The outskirts of New Chicago. They’re waiting for you.”
I gasp, choke on the air I’m trying to breathe, and cough. I let go of Frank and he staggers backwards before catching himself. He rushes the cage and grabs the bars. I jump back, just as confused and startled as he is.
“What did you say?” he snarls, his fangs bared.
“I-I don’t know!” I squeal, the exchange waking the others huddled near me.
Frank lets go of the bars, his gaze glassy and distant. Then he turns away, walks to the campsite, and kicks Jeb.
“You’re up,” Frank growls, taking a few steps to a tree and slumping against it, sliding to the ground with a thud.
“What happened?” Nara asks, hiding the rations and stashing the canteen behind her.
“I have to tell you something.” I turn to her but keep Jeb in the corner of my eye.
The others are awake, but they might as well all hear it. I can’t hide this any longer. I tell them about the dream, the vine, and show them the key. I try to pass it to Nara, but it blisters her hand when she tries to take it. I cautiously pick it back up and tuck it back into my pocket.
“It channeled something through me,” I whisper. “It told Frank about a Pride. That he’s not the last of his kind.”
