Page 39 of Mated By the Pack
“I don’t like the looks of that,” Fiona whimpers, her eyes getting wide.
I don’t like it either.
Directly ahead of us is an open room. Whatever it was designed for originally is a mystery, but there are pelts on the floor—what type of animal or hybrid, I’m not sure. There are bones, all picked clean and weathered, lying in a pile. Metal shelves arelined with skulls. Animal, hybrid, and some I’m almost certain are human.
We came looking for shelter, but I’m starting to wonder if we just walked into something else’s home.
“We should leave,” I say, glancing over my shoulder.
“Why?” Brenna asks, walking ahead and looking at a row of skulls like she’s fascinated by them. “They’re clearly old. I don’t see any recent trophies.”
She’s not wrong. The air is colder here. A little thicker. But there’s no scent of rot or decay.
There are things in The Tangle a lot worse than bones.
CHAPTER 11
Calla
We continue a little further into the bunker, but a large metal door blocks our path. There’s a hand wheel on the front, but we can’t budge it, not even with all five of us joining in.
“Dead end,” Tansy groans.
“This door has been opened recently,” Nara says, pointing out marks on the floor. “We’re just not strong enough to do it.”
“Which means something a lot stronger than us was in here,” I sigh, looking back at the macabre scene behind us. “I don’t think we should spend the night in here. If something comes through those doors, we’re trapped.”
“At least we have light,” Brenna says. “That’s better than what we will have outside.”
“Yeah, but it’s too risky. We can’t stay longer than the night, anyway. We’re running out of food and the fruit isn’t providingenough hydration. We have to find water.” I close my eyes and let out another sigh. “Come on. There’s nothing useful in this bunker.”
We’re weary. The others more so than me, but my bracelet is helping with that. I still need to rest because we’ve been walking most of the day. I’d also like to get another look at the stars, since it should be dark by now. I lead them back toward the exit, despite the groans and mutters of protest behind me. Fiona was happy when the lights came on. Now it’s back into the darkness.
“We should turn off the power, so nobody knows we were here,” Nara suggests. “We won’t get far in the dark, so we don’t want them to start looking for us if they come home.”
“Agreed,” I say, following her into the control room.
Nara is able to move the lever on her own this time. The hum in the bunker dies out and we’re plunged into darkness again, my bracelet providing a dim luminescence that lights our path the rest of the way.
“The moon is brighter tonight,” Fiona whispers as we get close to the steel slabs.
“Good,” Tansy says. “I don’t like it when it’s so dark you can’t see anything.”
I walk out first, and immediately put both arms out to stop the others. We’re not alone. There are five wolves sitting outside the bunker—all with gold eyes like the one from The Aether. Their fur shimmers in the moonlight, a mixture of gold, platinum, and one with an onyx hue. He could be Silas’s twin, but he’s not as massive as the ghost. They don’t make a move toward us. They just stare, still as our shadows.
“We’re going to get eaten,” Tansy whimpers as she peeks around me.
“I guess we found what lives here,” Nara whispers. “We’ll have to fight.”
“We’re no match for them,” I whisper back. “And they’re not attacking—not yet.”
I can feel Fiona trembling. She buries her face in my back. Tansy’s sniffle tells me she’s crying again. Brenna readies her stick, but I’m confident it is no match for the five hulking beasts.
“Back inside,” I murmur. “Slowly.”
“We’ll be trapped,” Nara protests. “Just like you said.”
She’s right. That’s why we left the bunker to begin with. But I don’t detect danger. The bracelet on my wrist is matching my heartbeat, but it’s not reacting to the wolves. Silas mentioned his brothers, and while I’m not sure if onyx fur is common for wolves, one of them certainly reminds me of him.
