Page 75 of Mated By the Pack
“Okay, I’m going to go before I really start crying,” Brenna whispers, wiping her eyes and grabbing her backpack. “Wish me luck.”
Another round of hugs, just as sorrowful as the first. I’m the last to pull her into my arms.
“Take care of yourself, Brenna. If you hear something, go the opposite direction. Same thing we did,” I say, not having any real wisdom to impart. “I think Frank went to New Chicago. If you run into him, tell him thank you. Things would have been much worse for us if he hadn’t been there.”
“If I see Frank, I’m not getting close enough to thank him,” Brenna says. “I plan to stay far away from hybrids, if I can.”
I reluctantly smile and nod. I can’t blame her for the hesitation. I believe there is good in Frank, especially since The Aether spoke to him through me, but he was still one of our captors. I just hope Brenna survives long enough to get to New Chicago. She deserves better than what the Lower District has to offer.
Brenna waves goodbye and I watch until she disappears into the darkness, headed north, based on her direction. I notice the wolves approaching out of the corner of my eyes, so I walk over to meet them before they get to us.
“We’re going to help you, mate,” Gideon says. “Come on, let’s open the hatch.”
Jace smirks at me. Vance shrugs his shoulders, almost apologetically. Knox glares as he walks past, and I get the sense he’s not fully onboard with this. Caleb locks eyes with me and I see something different in his stare, but all he offers is a low growl before looking away. He’sdefinitelynot in agreement with this plan.
Gideon opens the hatch, hops down, and makes sure the way is clear before motioning for his brothers. All of them except Vance join him. Vance stays beside me, and we help the other women down into the tunnel.
“Your turn,” Vance says, offering a hand.
“Thank you.” I smile, taking his hand, and climb down the ladder. I only make it halfway before strong arms pull me the rest of the way. Knox. He puts me down gently on my feet. “And thank you,” I whisper, looking up at him with a smile.
“Mm,” Knox grunts, then looks up at Vance. “Close the hatch on your way down.”
We wait for Vance, and the tunnel gets a lot darker once the hatch is closed. My bracelet provides a little illumination, but we’re still mostly in the dark. My mates seem to know where they’re going, so the rest of us follow them, eventually reaching another ladder.
“I don’t know what is up there now,” Gideon admits. “I’ll check it out.”
Gideon ascends the ladder quickly, making it look easy. He opens the hatch, climbs out, and the rest of us wait. I’m just about to call out for him when two gold eyes appear.
“All clear. It’s an old warehouse or something,” Gideon mutters. “I don’t see any peace officers outside.”
“Good,” Jace says.
The brothers go up first. I get the other women up the ladder before I climb it. Like before, I get hauled most of the way by Knox. He steadies me once my feet hit the ground. Caleb slams the hatch shut and walks to the exit of the warehouse, peeking outside.
“Anything?” Jace calls out and Caleb shakes his head.
“So, that’s it?” Fiona asks, some excitement in her voice. “We can just go home?”
“Yes, you should be safe now,” I say, squeezing her hand and looking toward Tansy. “Your guardians will probably call the peace officers, and that’s okay. Just tell them what happened. You were drugged, kidnapped, and managed to escape thanks to some people who helped you. Probably not a good idea to mention my bracelet or the wolves.”
“They’ll think we’ve lost our minds if we start talking about magic bracelets and wolves that can turn into people,” Nara sighs. “But I can handle questions from the peace officers.”
Abigail is standing nearby. She listens to my instructions, then repeats them to the ones who were in the cage with her. They’re the first to leave. Caleb holds the door open and glares at them as they walk past. I say my goodbyes to my friends one last time, before watching them go.
“What now?” Abigail asks. “We go to Clyde’s new apartment and make him wish he was never born?”
“You should go home, Abigail,” I tell her. “We’ll take care of Clyde. I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you, especially after getting you home.”
“I wish I could see it,” Abigail mutters. “And I can’t believe you’re abandoning me again.”
“I’m not abandoning you. You’re going to be fine.” I shake my head and hug her. “Just keep helping people, like you already do. You’re a good nurse. It won’t be long until you graduate and get to do all the things we talked about. Living in the Middle District. Shopping in the Upper District.”
“Won’t be the same without you,” she sighs.
After another tearful goodbye, Abigail leaves the warehouse. Vance figures out how to turn on the lights, and we get a good look at what is inside. It appears to be storage for some of the shops in Haven North. Excess inventory. Things they no longer sell.
“We’re not going to go running through Haven North searching for this guy,” Knox says. “Calla, tell us everything you know about him.”
