Page 19 of Loki's Enemy Mate

“What was her wish?”

“To leave the Skoll pack and my father behind and build a better life in the city.” I stared at the unmoving water, my stomach twisting as I thought of her. “And she did.”

“What’s the half she didn’t get then?”

I looked up at Loki, my gaze catching his. “She went alone,” I said quietly. “Without me.”

“She left you here?!”

“No,” I replied, shaking my head again. “I chose him over her.”

Loki didn’t have to ask for clarification. The look on his face told me he understood what I meant. I had to pull my gaze away, a new sensation filling my chest and spreading through my veins. This past day with Loki had brought a lot of things to my attention, questions that I never knew Ishouldhave until now. For the first time since the day my mother left, I felt something other than pride for choosing my father.

I felt… regret.

Chapter Eleven: Loki

“Come on,” I said at last, waving for Heimdall to follow. “We’re not gonna get out through here.”

“We haven’t even tried yet.”

“That hole is in the center of the room over a pool of water. Not to mention, the rope is rotten. How do you plan on getting out through there?”

“I… I don’t know!”

“Exactly. Come on.”

“Don’t you think we should at least look?”

I rounded on him in an instant, pointing my finger in his face. “Remember what happened last time you decided to tell me I was wrong? Or am I supposed to believe your brain has grown three sizes since then because you sure as fuck aren’t acting like it.”

Heimdall just stared at me, not even attempting to defend himself.

“That’s what I thought. Now come on. We need to see if the cave continues. I want to get the hell out of here.”

“You’re kind of bossy, you know that?” he grunted, a bemused smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. “You’ve got a lot of spunk for such adinky Alpha.”

I was up in his face in a flash, my nostrils flared in anger. “Don’t fucking call me that.”

“Stop calling meHamballthen.”

My heart thudded in my chest. “No. Fuck you.”

“Then lead the way,Dinky.”

It took everything I had not to punch him right then and there. But there was something else too, a little twinge in my groin that annoyed me even more. That nickname would’ve made me start swinging with anyone else. But with Heimdall… well, I almostlikedit. And that was probably the most irritating thing I’d ever experienced.

Turning away from him with a huff, I made the wide circle around the cavern, Heimdall close behind. For a moment it looked as if there wouldn’t be another way out, that we’d come to a dead end at last. But as I shifted my phone light toward the floor, I noticed an opening near the edge of the pool. Crouching down, I saw the hole was about three feet across and a couple feet tall. Getting down on my belly, I crawled my way inside, trying to see if it led anywhere.

“What are you doing?” Heimdall scoffed, but I didn’t reply.

Pushing my way in, I felt the sudden pressure of having thousands of tons of rock hovering over me. The entire situation gave me an uneasy feeling. But I had plenty of room and despite the anxiety, it was easy to breathe. I’d gone about ten feet when the cavern suddenly opened up again. There I was suddenly struck with the sound of running water over smooth stone. I’d heard traces of it back at the well, but I figured it was coming from above. However, the closer I got, the more it sounded like an entireriverrunning underground.

I pulled myself through to the other side, coming out on a small flat area. A few feet to my left was the water, rushing through the cave along a path it had carved for itself long ago. Shining my light upriver, I saw it spouting forth from a hole in the stone. I’d hoped it was coming from outside so we could follow it up and out. But that didn’t seem to be the case. However, as I pointed my light downstream, I saw that it curved away into the darkness, a ledge on either side where we could walk.

But then my light caught something else in the water.

Leaning down at the edge of the river, I held the phone out over the water, confirming my suspicions. There were, to my great surprise, a couple of trout swimming against the current. Even with just the light of my phone, I could see the fish were pale compared to their kind outside the cave. Not only that, but their eyes were milky and they didn’t react to the light at all.

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