Page 6 of Never Submit

Ren

Islowly pry my eyes open and immediately regret it.

A sharp pain throbs at the back of my skull, sending waves of nausea through my body. I clench, curling into myself, my skin breaking out in a terrible cold sweat.

I try to sit up and an immediate dizziness slumps me back down.

My fingertips brush the back of my head, coming away smeared with a sticky wetness.

Blood.

Ah, fuck. That’s not good. But it explains the killer headache.

What happened?

Closing my eyes again, I rewind my memory for any clues. There’s nothing but a huge blank space and more pain waiting for me. Grinding my teeth, I push through the blankness, searching—but the last thing that comes to me is reaching the top of Grey Mountain.

With the wolves and the Moonstone. Only to find the goddess’s temple destroyed, smashed to rubble.

Another flare of pain stops me, and I hiss, pressing a hand to my roiling gut.

It feels like someone hit me with a brick or something.

Wait—thewolves.

Torin, Mathis, Noble, and Dax… Where are they?

My eyes fly open, and I’m greeted by more darkness. Blinking rapidly, my vision finally adjusts, sharpens, and I look around to get my bearings. Okay,not goodis an understatement.

Metal bars surround me, and my heart gives a little flip-flop, chest tightening. I'm in a cage. An actual fucking cage. Like something they’d put an animal in.

There isn’t much room in here either. Enough to stand, but that’s about it. More a cage than a cell, like I don’t deserve even the decency of walking space like any common criminal.

Frantic, I check my red hoodie’s pockets for the Moonstone, but they’re empty.

Shit!

This is getting worse by the second.

Around the cage is jagged rock; the room was carved out of stone. Indents and grooves from pickaxes and shovels scour the walls. Definitely a man-made cave, unlike the one Mathis took me to.

Fear shakes me to my core.

What else do I remember?

My head throbs. Not a whole lot of anything. There's only the constant dull ache where memories should be, and it's driving me crazy.

What happened after we made it to the temple? How did I end uphere?

I breathe deeply to calm myself. I need my wits in-fucking-tact if I’m going to make it out of here—whereverhereis—and find a way back to safety.

Back to the werewolves.

Never in my life would I equate werewolves with safety but here we are.

Wait…were they the ones who kidnapped me, threw me in a cage? For a fleeting moment I can’t breathe. I quickly quash the idea.

I’d gone with them willingly up the mountain. Hell, I had sex with two of them and hit third base with another. There’s no need to lock me up. I’m a willing participant.

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