Page 71 of Wild Wolf

Cain took a hard right, yanking me after him by the arm and we chased after Hornrider who was sprinting away with apparent ease, throwing a grin back at us over his shoulder before he swung a hard left. Cain took that turn too and I followed fast, nearly tripping as a series of stone steps led down into an underground chamber. It was pitch black inside and my eyes took a second too long to adjust before I nearly ran headlong into a wall. I stumbled to the right, spotting Cain sprinting off through the chamber, still hot on the heels of Hornrider.

“Listen to the change in the wind, the vibration in the stone, forget relying on your eyes first. They come second,” Cain called to me.

I raced to catch him, attempting to do what he’d said and hearing his footfalls hit more stairs, telling me where they were. I didn’t stagger at all as I followed him down them, listening again and hearing Hornrider’s footfalls taking a turn to the right at the base of the stairs. I turned before I saw the wall looming ahead of me this time and a whoop of excitement left me as Cain picked up the pace.

We sprinted through the dark until finally making it back out to the brighter passages above where the crowd bellowed in encouragement at the sight of us. “Lawman, Lawman, Lawman!” a group were baying, and I glanced at Cain as I made it shoulder to shoulder with him.

“You’re famous here,” I jibed.

“I’m just an Elite Hunter,” he said in answer, shrugging it off as always but it was clear he had more than a small fanbase. There were plenty of Fae calling out to Hornrider too and the golden-haired man took the time to throw a wave their way.

A howl carried from the right that sounded like it had come from a man and as we all turned that way, he came into view at the end of a long passage. His long, dark hair whipped out sideways as he turned and sprinted out of sight and Hornrider cried, “Mine!” putting on a burst of speed and making a beeline for his target.

Cain grabbed my shoulder, scrunching my shirt in his fist and yanking me down a path to the left. I heard the whoosh of a blade and ducked the same moment Cain did as a giant saw swung horizontally overhead.

“Fuck,” I gasped, looking to Cain. “You didn’t mention that shit.”

“Thought it might put you off, inmate.” He smiled wide, looking more at home in this place than any person should, then he sprinted away down the passage, leaping over a pit of spikes and ducking another swinging blade. I followed fast, making it through the path of death and chasing him down one where the floor was layered with ice. I raised my hand to melt it but Cain slowed, slapping my hand back down to my side. “No magic. It’s against the rules.”

I skidded on the ice, cursing as I fought to keep my balance but Cain just gave me a look that said he wasn’t fazed by this then ran at the wall, sprinting up it, leaping to the opposite wall and doing that twice more before standing on top of it. The crowd went crazy for that move and I could tell he was lapping it up even if he didn’t so much as look their way. I prepared to attempt the same move, hoping I didn’t fall on my ass and make a fucking fool of myself in front of Rosa and the others.

I managed it though, releasing a laugh as I landed beside Cain and he braced me.

“Now, let’s see if we can spot some prey,” he said, his tone low and hungry as he gazed across the many passages spreading out around us.

“Awoooo!” a female voice made my head snap around and my heart lurched violently in my chest. Rosalie was standing up on a wall herself, gazing right at us with her wolf mask still in place.

“What the fuck is she doing in here?” I barked as I spotted several Vampires turning in the passages and heading her way with ravenous movements.

“That fucking girl,” Cain growled in fury.

“That’s our fucking girl,” I hissed. “And we’d better get to her before those pieces of shit do.”

Rosalie leapt off of the wall as a Vampire lunged up from the passage below, taking a swipe at her.

I leapt to the next wall, then the next, moving quickly as Cain kept pace with me to my left, my pulse rioting with fear. If they caught her, if they touched her-

Everything blurred in my head, my mind latching onto the hunt so keenly that there was no escape. I would catch her first. She was mine.

I made it to the passage she was running down, a female Vampire speeding along behind her, just seconds from reaching her. I threw myself from the wall with a roar of rage, landing on top of the Vampire and crushing her beneath me, making her scream as some bone broke from the impact of my weight.

Cain landed ahead of me, chasing after Rosalie who had darted away down another passage. I scrambled upright with a surge of rivalry in my chest.

“Cain!” I barked. “Get away from her!”

He didn’t slow this time, not bothering to check if I was keeping pace anymore as he raced down a set of steps after my girl.

I chased him underground into the dark, hearing him move, the sound like the shifting of the wind. My hearing was alive with it, the way the air twisted ahead of me, showing me the way through the oppressive black.

Cain was right. I didn’t need to rely on my eyes as much as this. I could hear my path far better than I could see it, and I no longer found my feet stumbling, no longer second guessed myself as I moved. This Order was so unlike my Lion, but I was starting to thrive within its shell. It offered me agility beyond bounds, my senses heightened in a way that was nothing short of a gift, and for the first time since this strange Order had taken possession of me, I revelled in its power.

I heard Cain stop a heartbeat before I was about to collide with him and came to a jarring halt behind him. I shoved him against the wall, pinning him there with a snarl. “She’s mine.”

“Listen,” he hissed, ignoring what I’d said.

Slowly, I managed to focus, the warring desire of the hunt still sharp and my mind clouding with the need of it, but I still had hold of myself. I closed my eyes, listening to the soft shuffling of a body somewhere close, just above us.

“She’s up there,” he breathed. “There must be a crawl space in the stone ceiling.”

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