Page 18 of Mated By the Pack
“That’s the plan,” Nara says, gripping the hammer in her hand for a moment before hiding it underneath her shirt.
Once she’s set, I turn to Brenna.
“This buckle won’t do much unless you get a clean shot,” I say, testing the weight and examining the buckle. “Here, try to wrap it around your hand so that the prong is between your knuckles.” I tighten it around my fist and show her how to hold the belt. “The leather will protect your hand, and you should try to gouge them. Their eyes, preferably.”
“Got it,” Brenna says, almost like she’s eager to use it. I hand it over and she replicates what I did perfectly, getting the prong ready to strike.
“I didn’t get a good weapon,” Tansy whimpers, looking down at the piece of broken wood.
“Better than me,” Fiona sighs. “I didn’t even get to keep mine.”
“I have something better,” I whisper, reaching into my pocket and removing the silver case. I open it and show them the syringes. “This is what they used to knock us out at Haven North. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but based on how I felt waking up, and the Academic Medical Center logo, I believe it’s one of the stronger sedatives we use for surgery.”
I give one syringe to Tansy and another to Fiona. That leaves us with two. I take one for myself and Nara motions for the other, so I pass it to her.
“Just in case,” Nara whispers, hiding the syringe in her clothes.
“When I woke up the first time, I heard them say something about this being strong enough to stop a hybrid.” I motion to the syringes. “If we have to fight Frank, prioritize the syringes. If you don’t have a syringe, run.” I glance at Brenna to make sure she understands.
Everyone seems to agree. After the plan is set, we rest, but none of us sleep. I’m still not sure what to make of my exchange with Frank. I turn over and remove the key from my pocket, studying it as it pulses with every beat of my heart.
“You spoke to him, but you won’t speak to me?” I murmur, squeezing the key in my hand.
Everything stays quiet until first light. Jed wakes with a snort, blinking at the sky, and immediately realizes no one’s on watch. His barked curses jolt the others awake. Carl and Jeb scramble up. Frank is slower, groggy, and off balance. I’m not used to seeing him like that. His face is etched with something that looks like concern. He doesn’t say a word to the others. Just walks to the edge of the clearing, eyes locked on The Tangle for a moment before he glances at me.
“It’s fine,” Frank growls finally. “We made it through the night. Let’s break camp and get an early start.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Carl mutters, rubbing his eyes. “But this is your fault, Jeb. Frank woke you up. You were supposed to wake your brother.”
“Sorry, boss,” Jeb sighs. Then he pauses. “Wait… where the fuck is my knife?”
I freeze. So does everyone else in the cage. Jeb rustles through his things, muttering. Jed is the one who finds it.
“Here. You dropped it.” He holds it out to his brother. “Probably fell when you passed out instead of doing your job.”
“I don’t even remember pulling it out,” Jeb grumbles, taking the knife.
As the slavers start tearing down camp, Frank stays removed from them, standing sentry at the edge of the woods, glancing back at me now and then with something almost like grief in his eyes.
“Goddamn it,” Carl yells. “Who’s been sneaking rations? We’re low!”
“Not me,” Jed calls out. “I’ve been so careful I’m losing weight. I need to take my belt in another notch—but fuck, I can’t even find it.”
“We’ll stock up at The Outpost,” Carl mutters. “Not like we’ll be eating rations after we cash in on the girls.”
“Wait,” Jeb says slowly. “My knife… Jed’s belt… missing food… You think something got into our camp last night?”
“It’s possible,” Frank says, circling the perimeter. “I wasn’t as alert as usual. But there are no tracks—not that everything in The Tangle leaves them.”
Carl looks around, suspicious, then unhooks the key from his belt. “Get the girls out. Something’s not right.”
“Oh, fuck,” Brenna whispers.
“You’re the only one with a key,” Jeb says. “They couldn’t’ve picked it.”
“We’re going to search them anyway,” Carl says, stomping toward us.
“What do we do?” Fiona whispers.
