Page 57 of Tangled Fates

I swallowed a growl working its way up the back of my throat. I didn’t have the time nor the energy to fight. If he wanted to risk his own hide to go do whatever the hell it was he was going to do, then that was on him. But I wasn’t going to get the rest of us killed because I didn’t know how to sit tight and wait for an entrance.

However, when Hudson came back, he had some interesting news for us.

“So, I was right,” he said as he crouched back down behind me.

I rolled my eyes. “And tell us how you think you were right.”

He nodded in front of us. “That’s a lot of bears, and I don’t see a lot of places for those bears to hang out at. I mean, there was the rundown cabin by the lake, but it wasn’t like there was a bar, a restaurant, or anything that told us there was shelter for these assholes.”

“What did you find?” Levi whispered.

Hudson pointed. “There’s a leveling off point above the cave that carves itself back into the mountainside. That’s where the bears live.”

I blinked. “What?”

He nodded. “It’s a sprawling cave with little houses like ours back home. Little chalets that dot themselves all around the cave.”

Dean scoffed. “That’s why we can never pinpoint where the hell those guys are.”

“And guess what the walls of their chalets are made of?” Hudson said.

I sighed. “A red wood?”

“Bingo.”

“So,” Levi said as he sat on the ground, “we’ve got a cave with Brody in it that sits underneath the entire encampment of bears that sits on a leveled plain going into the mountain itself. Is that what we’ve just figured out?”

“Yep,” Hudson said as he popped the “p.”

“Good job,” I said.

His gaze whipped toward me. “How much did that hurt?”

I shrugged. “Not at all. That’s a damn fine job, Hudson.”

His eyes ignited with pride. “Thanks.”

“But that doesn’t help us with saving Brody. It’s practically a suicide mission at this point.”

“We need to regroup,” Levi said.

“We also need a distraction so we can get inside that cave,” Dean murmured.

“Are we sure he’s in the cave?” I asked. “Because I’m pretty sure there were red, wood walls around him in those visions.”

Levi sniffed the air. “I’d bet my life on it. He’s in that cave.”

I sat down onto the ground, keeping an eye on the bears. “What if I offered myself up as a distraction?”

“No,” Hudson said immediately.

“Not a chance,” Levi said behind him.

But Dean didn’t quite have that same tone. “I’m not the biggest fan of it, but we’re also out of options. What were you thinking?”

Hudson snarled. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?”

“Look around you,” Dean said as he held out his arms, “it’s not like we’ve got a wolf army behind us, ready to defend our honors. We’re in the trenches, trying to yank Brody out of this situation. So, the least we could do is hear her out.”

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