Page 118 of The Wolf in My Tavern

The ax that hangs at his hip and the many scars upon his flesh tell me he is no stranger to conflict.

“You will have to get in the queue behind my mate,” he says with a humorless smile. “The last of our warriors are here. We are ready.”

“Good,” Callum says decisively. “It is time.”

Chapter Forty-Four

Ada

Iwake up cold and shivering, clinging to a source of warmth in the bare stone room—Lizbeth. As I slowly move, pain assaults every part of my body and I groan.

“How are you feeling?” Lizbeth asks.

My lips are dry and cracked; it feels like forever since I had a drink. I lift my head slowly from her shoulder, my fingers instinctively reaching for the egg at the back of my skull, wincing as I find the tender flesh.

I feel a little dizzy, but I don’t think it’s anything more than a lack of water and the trauma of the events. “My head aches, and I’m thirsty and freezing, but otherwise okay. You?”

“Same, less the headache.”

“Come back and fight me, bastards! I dare you!”

The sudden outburst makes me jump. The woman pacing before the cell door wears hide pants, a matching vest, and leather knee-high boots. Her beautiful, long blonde hair is full of bouncy waves and contrasts with her black eye, bruised jaw, and the crusted blood on her lip. She introduced herself as the witch, but her name is Gwen, and she is the queen of a barbarian tribe.

She is also a warrior maiden, and I have little doubt she will obliterate any man or shifter unwise enough to unlock the door.

They don’t unlock the door. The most we have gotten since we were shoved in this prison is the occasional bucket of water and some chunks of stale bread, most of which are distributed to the children and women who are pregnant or feeding.

Over fifty women and children of the former Ludstone pack share the dark vaulted cavern with us, locked away like criminals when word came that Gray was on the warpath.

At least, I pray that Callum and Gray still live. My last image of Callum was of him surrounded by a dozen wolves who were tearing into his flesh.

I blink the sting away from the back of my eyes. Neither pity nor worry will help me. The best I can do is to be strong, not only for me but for the sake of those I am trapped here with.

No thoughts or words can stop the sickness churning in my gut because if my mates live, I know they will come for me, and I fear then they will surely fall.

We are deep underground, and under guard.

“I’ve got an idea,” Gwen says, her eyes shifting over the sea of downtrodden faces before settling on me.

She was out on a hunting trip when she was kidnapped. Rufus had gotten word that her clan king might support Gray and Callum. Unlike the beta shifters, who, without a pack leader, were cowed by the taking of mates, I believe the capture of Gwen will have had the opposite effect on her mates.

“What kind of idea?” I ask, feeling both nervous and hopeful.

She grins. Gwen is both fearsome and beautiful. I am already in awe of her, and more so when she lays out her plan.

Callum

A part of me wants to challenge Rufus head-on—the beastly part of me that I have only recently met. The man retains wits enough to know that winning trumps a reckless charge.

The barbarian warriors gather before the entrance to the Canis pack’s den in enough numbers to give the impression we are all there.

Some of the Ludstone alphas and betas who have been waiting and watching have also rallied upon hearing of Gray’s return. Although many more remain scattered or prisoners, their arrival has heartened Gray.

I want to hate him. I don’t like him much sometimes, but I cannot find it in me to hate him. My beast beats his tail from side to side—he thinks Gray is noble of purpose.

My beast is also me, and I can admit that I might find him noble of purpose, too, were I not sick in my belly with worry for Ada.

I push worries down as Gray, Drake, Arlo, and I slip through the trees and circle to a forgotten entrance, sealed many years ago… And now unsealed with the help of some barbarians with stone-working skills.

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