3. Breaking Out

Chapter 3

Breaking Out

NIKA

“Tessa!” I called out the minute I saw her round the corner. It was good to see a friendly face, even if I knew it was impossible for her to help me escape. She wouldn’t risk going against her mate and I didn’t think Avery had changed his stance on letting his brother make horrible decisions.

“I want to get you out of there.” My friend called to me as she moved closer. “I can’t do that right now, but don’t worry. Avery is trying to come up with a plan to avoid war, get you free, and lock his brother up instead.”

“Avery is plotting against Aiden?”

Tessa bobbed her head and then started to push different things between the bars for me to grab. “Dr. Palmer said you need to clean your hair, especially the parts that fall over the wound you have. Otherwise, it will stay open and seeping, and may even fester before long. He said your body is under too much strain trying to keep infection at bay to help heal and close the wound, since you can’t shift in here.”

“Thank you,” I said to Tessa as I took the shampoo and conditioner she offered.

“Aiden told Avery to have me come deliver these things to you.”

“I don’t care. He has held me prisoner for days and hasn’t so much as offered me a glass of water. As far as I am concerned, he can rot in a hellscape of his own making soon enough. Thorin will come for me.”

“I know he will. He knew how fortunate he was to find you on Mirage Island. Anyone could see that for themselves. Has he treated you right since you left with him?”

I wanted to say yes, because he had been wonderful to me personally, but then there were the issues with his pack that remained unaddressed. That wasn’t something I could simply brush aside, especially since it landed me in a magical jail cell and at the mercy of my former potential mate.

“He was kind and wonderful to me, for the most part. Some of his pack weren’t as welcoming, and they’re part of the reason I’m in this mess.” I raised my hands to indicate the cell I was stuck in.

“Do you blame him for that?”

“Honestly, I blame Aiden for everything. Thorin only wanted to see the best in his pack. I can understand that. His inactions are nothing compared to what Aiden is responsible for putting me through.”

“I understand.” Tessa got as close to the bars as she dared and then she whispered to me. “Avery gave his brother twelve hours to set things right. If he fails to stop the war that is headed for our doorstep before then, Avery will take over the pack.”

“That is for the best anyway.”

Tessa nodded her head. “It is, and it will happen either way, but Avery wanted to give his brother the chance to do the right thing before he is forced to step down.”

“He has had the chance to do the right thing from the very beginning, Tessa. Doing the right thing now will be a bandaid over a ravaged neck wound. It won’t matter.”

“I suppose it won’t, but I think Avery needs to feel as though he gave his brother the chance at redemption.”

I rolled my eyes at that. “Thank you for all this.” Besides the hygiene items, Tessa brought a paper sack full of food and a bottle of water along with a carton of juice. I worried that some of it might be drugged, considering what Aiden had done to keep me there, but I wouldn’t bother to ask Tessa. I would simply have to examine the water bottle really well. If it was sealed properly and there weren’t any leaks from the bottle that indicated tampering, I might drink it. Everything else was out of the question.

“I put the food together myself, so no one tampered with it.”

I glanced up at her and wondered briefly how she would know that it was a concern of mine, then I remembered Tessa’s story. She had been thrown into a similar situation when she refused to mate with her previous Alpha’s son.

“I hate to see you here.” She shivered. “When Avery told me I needed to bring you supplies, it took a lot to make myself come down those steps.” She visibly shook again. “My biggest fear is that I’ll end up in a place like this again, and my brain screamed that it was a trap. Even though I have a mate now, and I think he’ll take good care of me, it’s his brother who treated you the way my old pack treated me.”

“Avery stood by and allowed all of it.”

She shook her head. “Not this. We didn’t even know you were here until earlier when one of the guards came to inform my mate. That was when he went to give Aiden the time to fix it.”

I laughed that off. “Funny how he keeps giving Aiden time to fix things, but that time is always at my expense, not Aiden’s.” I shook my head. “Avery is just as bad. You don’t have to see it that way since you’re his mate and I’m the captive in this situation. I will never forgive either of them for what they have put me through.”

“I understand.” Tessa backed up further toward the hallway that would lead her back upstairs and out of the basement level of what should have been the pack house.

I watched as she finally spun around and left without another word. I didn’t blame her one bit. It had been cruel of the brothers to send her down here in the first place. I hoped like hell they didn’t know her story, and therefore did it in ignorance. Otherwise, it seemed like torture and while there was a time when I wouldn’t think either of them capable, my opinions had changed greatly over the course of the past seven months.

It was hard to believe it had been that long since I came home from school. The heat of summer had descended on us. I’d missed my official graduation from university, not that I planned to attend, but the choice was forever lost to me amidst the dramas that had been forced on me over time.

I made my way to the tiny sink at the side of the cell and made good use of the shampoo. It stung like hell when it made contact with my scalp, but that wasn’t something I had time to worry over. I was damned either way. I could either get an infection from the nasty hair or from the chemicals in the shampoo. Either way, it would suck.

I managed to get cleaned and decided to trust the pre-packaged food in the bag Tessa brought me. Considering what happened to her, I didn’t think she would give me tainted food or drink, but I still avoided the things that were homemade, in case she put her faith in someone else to take care of that. I drank the water from the bottle, instead of the sink, because the sink didn’t feel like the greatest option. I wished I’d taken a closer look at it before I washed my hair, because that was another infection worry.

I blew out a frustrated huff and then worked to stretch my muscles. Tessa clearly hadn’t been given keys to the cell, so she hadn’t been an option to get me out. I didn’t think she would bother to try even if she did have them, since that would mean going against Avery’s wishes. It still blew my mind that he allowed his brother as much rope as he did to hang himself, because it was just enough to force the whole pack to swing with him.

It made no sense. It made even less sense to me that Avery hadn’t bothered to call his parents back to the pack. Something wasn’t adding up there with the family. I still didn’t understand why Alpha Trevor left the pack in his son’s care before he had a mate. Normally, the only time that was done was if the former Alpha died prior to the son finding his mate - as in Thorin’s case.

From what I understood, both of Aiden’s parents were still alive and well. I puzzled over that for a few minutes because there wasn’t anything else to do, and then I gave up on it altogether. All it did was leave me with more questions than answers and none of it was helpful.

Just as I was about to contemplate the wisdom of testing the bars, I heard a shuffled movement from around the corner. There were four more cells around there. I had been placed in one around the corner from the others. It was isolated to itself, and I had to wonder if I had been placed there for my safety or if it was simply because Aiden didn’t want anyone to accidentally come down and stumble upon me in the cells.

The sound came again and I prepared myself, just in case. I crouched low in the corner with the mattress propped in front of me as a shield, since there was no way to know who was friend or enemy anymore. It was a good thing I had taken the extra precaution because the person who appeared on the other side of the cell was no friend of mine.

“He was supposed to be mine!”

I glanced up at the desperate woman and said nothing. She could have Aiden. I certainly did not want him.

“Now, because of you, my moon-blessed rejected me on top of Aiden rejecting me.”

I laughed without meaning to. If that wasn’t the Karma Kyla had asked for, I didn’t know what was.

“Why are you laughing?” She screamed at me.

“Why wouldn’t I?” I tossed my question back at her in answer.

“You bitch! You ruined everything!”

“How in the hell do you figure this is my fault? Aiden was supposed to be my moon-blessed mate. You’re the one who was a member of his harem - willingly.” I tacked on the last as a reminder that no one had forced her to participate. “You were the one who threw away your reputation to do that. I’m just the person who had the misfortune of being paired with a weak Alpha. You can have him, by the way.” I chuckled again. “Assuming he’ll accept you, especially since your own mate didn’t want you.”

“Your mate didn’t want you either!” She shot back. When I said nothing about that, she laughed. “Not so funny now is it?”

“Well, I have a second-chance moon-blessed mate who is coming for me, so I don’t see it as a problem on my end. Did the gods bless you with another mate too?”

“You always think you’re better than everyone else!” Kyla screeched at me. “Well, I have news for you. I was the one who convinced Aiden that a harem would be the best thing for him. He listened to me because I’m important.”

“He listened to you because he was a selfish idiot who wanted to live out some fantasy. It had nothing to do with you being important. And for the record, I’ve never thought that I was better than anyone in the pack until now. I’m definitely better than you, though. I was born with a gift you don’t possess, Kyla. I can channel the power an Alpha puts out. It is a gift born from my genetics. You were meant to mate a beta wolf. I was meant to mate higher ranks. You need to stop blaming me because you decided to ignore those facts. Your complete failure to climb to ranks you weren’t equipped to handle is a ‘ you’ problem.”

“She’s not wrong.”

I turned to see that a guard had snuck in behind the woman who had so easily convinced Aiden to toss not only me, but our pack, aside for his pleasure. Kyla startled and turned around to face the man. “Brennan,” she whispered and I knew immediately that he was the mate who rejected her for her participation in the harem.

“My family told me I should take some time to think about what it would mean to give up my moon-blessed mate. They had me convinced that I needed to hear you out, that you may have somehow been coerced into the harem. Thanks for clearing that up for me. You were the one to suggest the harem to our Alpha. I have that admission recorded, by the way. When the pack decides who was responsible for our downfall, you’ll be the one to pay the consequences.”

“I only said that to piss her off.” Kyla argued.

“That part is a lie.” I smirked as I spoke the truth. “I could smell the foul stench of it in the air. “The part about you being the one who thought of the harem was definitely the truth, though.”

“I hate you!” Kyla shrieked before she pulled out what looked like a gun and aimed it at me. I ducked behind the mattress that I still had on its side as a barricade and she shot the gun once before I heard the clatter from her being knocked down and the gun being kicked out of her reach.

I carefully leaned around and plucked a dart out of the mattress. “Careful with that,” Brennan called back to me as he tied up the woman who was supposed to be his mate. “I don’t know if that’s a tranquilizer or a death sentence for you.”

I dropped the dart to the ground and moved around it to get a better look at what was going on beyond my cell. “You think she would kill me?”

“I think she already proved she has no respect for the Luna of the pack and that she is unhinged. Let’s play it safe until I can have Doc Palmer examine the contents.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere. If you want the dart, you’ll have to come get it though.”

The guard eyed me warily and shook his head. “I don’t blame you for not trusting me, but you will.” He glanced up and made sure to check around the hallway. “There is a secret entrance over there,” I looked to where he pointed in the opposite direction everyone kept entering from. “It goes out into a tunnel that leads to the forest at the edge of the pack’s border. When you get there, you will run straight out as fast and as far as you can. When you’re able, you find a place to stop and call your other Alpha. He’ll likely be here by the time you make your escape, so pay attention to where you are when you manage to make that call.”

“Wait,” I suggested as I tried to wrap my head around what Brennan was saying. “You’re going to help me escape?”

He nodded. “I have no respect or loyalty left for my Alpha. You are a victim. As far as I can see, you have done nothing wrong, and I do respect the way you wouldn’t put up with what Alpha Aiden did. It takes a strong woman to set down boundaries and stick to them, especially with an Alpha.”

Brennan made himself busy by strapping a gag to his former potential mate’s mouth as he spoke. “Need you to be quiet, Kyla. You wanted to take the Luna’s place so badly, I’m going to make your dream come true.” He laughed and then smacked the side of her face twice. It would have been considered a playful gesture in any other circumstances, but considering the context, it was more like he added insult to injury.

Kyla thrashed around as Brennan opened the cell door. “Go on, Luna. Be free and live a beautiful life away from this poisonous pack.”

I didn’t hesitate. As I cleared the cell door, Brennan dragged Kyla into the cell and stowed her behind the mattress. Then he carefully picked up the dart and glared at it before he showed it to his mate. “I hope this was just a tranquilizer, for your sake.” Then he jabbed it into her thigh. I didn’t wait to see if it killed her. Instead, I turned and ran in the direction Brennan had suggested. A portion of the wall was cracked and when I pushed on that spot, a doorway opened that led into a dark hallway made completely of stone except for the dirt floor.

I ran, and when even my wolf’s vision failed me, I held my hands out to either side of me as far as I could before they touched the walls. I dragged my fingertips over them along the way, so I didn’t miss any potential offshoots of the tunnel. There were none. It became obvious when I neared the end, as some light managed to pull through around the edges of what appeared to be another hidden door. This one was built into the ground. The only way out was to climb a rickety ladder. As soon as I was far enough up the ladder to reach the door, I realized I’d have to let go to push the door with enough force for it to give way.

It took every bit of strength I possessed to get the door free. The damn thing must not have been used in a long while. Dirt and debris fell in around me as it finally lifted from the ground. The sun blinded me temporarily as I managed to pull myself free from the tunnel, but the stale underground scent of earth and decay drifted away as the fresh pine scent of the forest blew toward me on the breeze. Despite it being a comforting scent of the home I grew up in, there was no way I could remain where I was. Eventually, someone else would venture down into the cells and discover that I had been freed.

The rush of adrenaline that helped to fuel my escape finally caught up with me, and a wave of dizziness washed over my body as I took my first steps toward freedom. It was good that it did, as it reminded me to close the door to the tunnel. Not only did I replace the door, but I glanced around, as I got my bearings back, and searched for something heavy to place on top so that it would be harder for someone else to follow me out the same way. It wasn’t that I thought it would deter someone by much, but any head start I could get was worth the couple minutes to make life more difficult on anyone who happened to pursue me.