Chapter 66

The Pack

Before she even opens her eyes, Rae knows she is in a different place. The smell, the density of the air molecules, something tells her they’ve moved.

At some point in the night— or day, or just when she was asleep— they had relocated. It wasn’t just a different room, she knew it was a new building, a new location on the map.

Having had no idea where she was the first time, it didn’t matter too much where she was now. She wondered if she was now farther from and closer to the home from which they’d stolen her.

But she was smart enough to know that a relocation of that size was usually forced, not chosen. Smoothing had happened on the surface, in the outside world, and her captors responded by packing up and moving out.

Rae stretches, noticing deeper aches than when she normally wakes up. Whatever drugs they gave her to move her were still wearing off. She paces around the room, her new room, taking in the space.

It is much like the other room, just a slightly darker shade of eggshell painted onto concrete walls. A vent in the ceiling supposedly brought in fresh air since there were no windows. The room was clean but still somehow felt dingy, maybe from the dim lights in the ceiling that provided just enough illumination to see without burning too much energy.

Sitting back on the bed, Rae stared for a moment at the wall across from her, wondering what story she could tell herself to get lost in her mind for a while.

Closing her eyes, she took a big breath and held it. It wasn’t until her face was turning red that she exhaled and recovered.

Her eyes opened and immediately fixed on one square of concrete in the back corner of the room. It had a strange lump on it.

Walking over to it, she saw that it wasn’t a part of the concrete itself, but was something inside it. A plug.

She spent the morning picking away at this small piece of putty, revealing a small hole that went clean through the wall into the space beyond. Her eye could just make out the same dingy light at the end of the tiny tunnel.

Steeling herself, she whispered into the hole.

“Hello?”

Nothing.

“Is anyone there?”

“Where are you?” a soft voice finally answered.

“I’m in the room next to you,” Rae said. “There is bed and a sink— you too?”

“Yes,” the voice was still confused.

“My name is Rae,” she offered. “What’s yours?”

“Julian.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Julian,” Rae said, feeling lighter than she had in weeks. “How long have you been here?”

“I’m not sure, its feels like forever,” Julian said, his voice a little louder in her ears. “I guess maybe ten days?”

“I think it’s been weeks for me,” she said. “Have you been to… the other room?”

“Yes,” he answered after a pause. His voice sounded ashamed. “What are they doing to us?”

“I don’t know yet,” Rae said, trying to sound comforting. “But hey, now we have each other. We’re not alone.”

A clang in the hallway brought them apart, and Rae quickly plugged the hole and went back to her cot just as the door panel opened and a plate of food was pushed into the room. There were the same masked faces she’d been seeing every morning. At least she knew they wouldn’t take her today.

She was starving, digging into the oatmeal and small bowl of fruit she was given. Thinking over her conversation with Julian, she almost dropped her spoon as the realization hit her that their words were never spoken out loud.

Their entire conversation had taken place inside her head.

Mira

Dominic and I didn’t sleep much for the rest of that night.

He wanted to know more about what Lucian and I had seen, and what my theories were on what they were doing. The conversation meandered as he peppered in his own ideas or asked for more clarification.

Though we lay in our own space on the bed, our hands remained between us. Occasionally one of us would intertwine our fingers, making our hands dance in the glow of our sheets. After a while, it was hard to tell who was leading and who was following. The movement was natural and playful, and seemed to comfort both of us.

I spent the next few days compiling my notes and bringing research back to our living room so we could look over it together. From now on, we would work as a team to solve this mystery.

When I was finished, it looked like one corner of the room had been taken over my a conspiracy theorist. A bulletin board was filled with documents and images, a large map of the region taking over the center. I was one step away from making connections with red string until the web consumed me.

“Lucas and Wyatt will join us shortly,” Dominic said, bringing my eyes away from the board. “They’ve heard from a few other Packs, it seems we might have possible locations.”

I took the coffee cup he offered me, savoring the aroma as it cooled. I don’t remember when he figured out exactly how I like my coffee (a dash of creamer, cinnamon, honey), but I was grateful that he did.

“That’s good,” I said.

I knew he was looking at me, but I focused on the board in front me.

“What are you thinking about?”

I looked up, his eyes endearing me to rely on him. “When, if, we find them, what next? Do we stop them? We find a way to reverse whatever they did to us and become normal again?”

“Normal,” he repeated.

“Whatever that even is,” I said, shaking my head with a laugh. “I really don’t know a time in my life where I ever felt normal.”

“I don’t either,” he said, turning his whole body to face mine. “But, normal is ordinary. The world could use a few extraordinary people like you and me."

I raised my eyebrows, seeing the smirk on his face. “And so humble, too.”

We stood facing one another, not speaking, suspending ourselves in this small moment of levity. This felt normal, and I knew he was thinking the same thing.

His hand seemed to float in the air as it came to my cheek, and my body buzzed from the contact. I pressed my head into his hand, letting him hold me up while he slowly stroked his thumb across my cheekbone.

I slowly blinked my eyes, and when I opened them I was startled by the look in Dominic’s eyes. The dark irises were glowing like molten lava, a deep pool that drew me into his desire. His fingers in my hair contracted slightly, gripping the strands in possession. His whole body seemed to grow bigger, and I just smelled the hint of his wolf being roused from within.

We both inhaled through flared nostrils and let the shared breath out slowly, acknowledging the tenuous hold on our restraint. He smiled a wicked grin and my knees threatened to give out from under me. I imagined him picking me up and throwing me to our bed, not caring for propriety or chastity but fully giving into this yearning between us.

Dominic’s phone started buzzing in his pocket, and I almost dropped my coffee at his reaction to the vibration in his pants. Blushing, I stepped back as he reached to retrieve the device and answer the call.

I sat down at my desk, focusing on getting my breathing and heart rate back on track.

Dominic hung up the phone, a new glimmer in his eye. He suddenly looked like a child going off on an adventure, and my heart went off course again.

“We have a new target,” he said, as if addressing his armed guards. “Tomorrow we ride.”