Page 14 of Loki's Enemy Mate

He pulled out his phone, lighting the room once more. It took several seconds for my eyes to adjust to that tiny light. It had been such a pitch darkness before that the phone light nearly blinded me. But once we were both on our feet, we turned to face the fork in the tunnel together.

“Which way?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

Loki took a step forward, still bracing himself against the wall to keep weight off his hurt leg. He stood there for a long moment, breathing deeply as he looked between the two paths. To me there was an obvious choice, but I was curious what he would do to lead me further astray.

“Let’s go left,” he said at last, pointing to the tunnel that dove deeper into the earth. “The air smells fresher there.”

“Doesn’t smell any different to me.”

He tapped the side of his nose with a smirk. “When in doubt, follow your nose, Master Baggins.”

I furrowed my brows. What the fuck was he talking about?

“Come on,” he grinned. “Lord of the Rings? When they’re in Moria?”

I just stared.

“Christ. You’ve never seen the Lord of the Rings?!”

“I don’t know what that is.”

Loki shook his head. “Fucking hell. I knew your father kept you all stupid, but I didn’t know he also deprived you of good movies.”

“Stop talking badly about my father!” I snapped.

The smirk was gone in an instant, replaced with a scowl. “Fine. Follow me.”

I didn’t budge. “I’m not going that way.”

“And why’s that?” he sighed. “Let me guess. Yourfatherthinks left turns are sinful or something?”

I pressed my lips into a thin line, my agitation clear as I puffed out my chest. “No.”

“Then what is it?”

“We shouldn’t be going down. That’ll only take us deeper into the mountain.”

“Well, that direction is still and the air is stale,” he said, jabbing a finger down the right-hand path. “But here the air is still moving and smells like green things. I trust nature more than I do your intuition.”

“You’re just trying to lead me into a trap.”

“Uh. Hate to break it to you dumbass, but we’realreadyin a trap!”

“Well, I’m going right.”

“Good riddance then. I have the light and I’m going left.”

“Fine. I don’t need your light, anyway.RealAlpha’s can find their way out of anything.”

“See ya later then, Mr.Real Alpha.”

I just scoffed, turning away from him as I thundered past him and down the right-hand path. Just as I suspected, Loki was trying to lead my astray. He wanted to get me lost in this mountain forever so he could wear me down, kill me, then escape with his life intact. Then he’d kill my father, my pack,and everyone I’d ever known. I wasn’t gonna fall for that shit. I was going to leave him behind permanently. I’d rather wander around in the dark than be put under a spell by some half-breed, anyway.

The right path grew dark quickly as I walked away. In less than ten feet, I could no longer see the rocky floor. The walls still held some light, and I put my right hand out to trail over the rough surface. I’d make it out with no problem, proving to my father at last that I was fit to lead the pack thanks to my impressive instincts. Instead of my downfall, this cave would be my salvation, my chance to prove I could lead the Skoll pack into the future all werewolves deserved. I set my jaw and walked confidently into the darkness.

Everything was going just fine until I took another step, and my foot never connected with stone again. Instead, I found myself suddenly falling into the darkness as it swallowed me whole. My hands flew out in both directions, looking for something to find purchase on. My right hand that had been on the wall already, caught a small ledge as I fell. Muscles and tendons tore as I dug in, my full body weight suspended by three fingers as I slammed against the wall.

My voice echoed through the cavern, a cry leaving my lips without my having noticed it. Blood pounded in my ears as I desperately searched for something to grab with my left hand. But all my fingers found was smooth stone and open darkness. And what’s more, my right hand was quickly losing its grip.

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