Page 56 of The Healer and the Wolf: Part Two

“How did y’all end up in there again?”

“I don’t remember. I woke up there with no clue what was going on, and I was so hungry it felt like my stomach was going to turn itself inside out. I wandered into the night, but then I got turned around, and I followed this feeling in my gut that told me I was going the right way. It didn’t lead me back to the cave, though, it?—”

“Led you to us,” I finished.

“Exactly.”

I shot Ricky one last meaningful look, and he clamped his mouth shut. Despite all odds, we eventually stumbled upon a craggy opening at the foot of a steep hill, the kind that told of mountains not too far in the distance.

“There,” Andromeda said with a shaking finger. “They’re in there. I know it.”

Ricky and the two scouts with us began to step forward, but I held out my hand. I had no doubt whoever was in that cave was either terrified out of their mind or confused enough to be violent. They needed their alpha, and it was time for me to step up to my responsibilities.

“I’ve got this,” I said, striding forward. No one argued with me, which I appreciated, and I gave my eyes a moment to adjust before I walked farther into the darkness.

Even with my enhanced vision, there was nothing quite like the pitch black within a cavern, so after a moment I pulled out the phone Ven had given me and turned the flashlight on. I made sure not to shine it far into the cave since I didn’t want to blind anyone hiding there.

I pulled up a rumble in my chest as I walked, a deep, comforting alpha sub-harmonic that any of my pack would hear and feel. I didn’t want to surprise anyone, and hopefully they would be drawn to me the same way Andromeda had.

The going wasn’t exactly smooth, and there were two points where I had to drop down. Just as I was beginning to think no one was there, I heard it. A heartbeat. It was weak, more like a hummingbird than a wolf. Perhaps a starving wolf?

“I’m here to help,” I said softly, but any shifter would hear me. “I’m your alpha. You have nothing to fear. I’m here to protect you.”

It started off as soft noises, nothing more than the scrape against rock, but then I heard more heartbeats. I raised the phone slightly to illuminate more of the space, and I nearly burst into tears at the sight in front of me.

Andromeda was right. There were nearly a dozen humans in ragged clothing who looked more like cave people than modern citizens. They stared at me with confusion and fear, but also the tiniest flicker of familiarity.

“Come,” I said, offering my hand to the closest one. “Let’s take you home and get you something to eat.”

“Alll….pha?”

My heart squeezed at the filthy face looking at me curiously. I thought I would have been able to recognize the female, if not bysight then by scent, but she was so caked in mud and other gross things, it was hard to make out much about her at all.

“Yes. I am your alpha. You’re all safe now.”

It wasn’t quite like herding cats as I got them out of the cave, but it was slow going. While I couldn’t discern their individual scents, I could pick up the acrid notes of starvation. Even if they had somehow adapted to see within the caves, there wasn’t enough large prey to sustain them. When was the last time they’d eaten? How did they get to the cave? Were they let loose as wolves or had they escaped to the wilds to form their own mini pack? Andromeda still didn’t remember that part.

So many questions, and we might never get any answers, but I didn’t care. My pack was slowly coming together. We had only a handful missing, and I was sure we’d be able to find them, too.

“Auntie!”

Andromeda stumbled forward the moment we came out into the light. Although she was still unsteady on her feet, she rushed past me to an especially emaciated figure in the middle of the group.

“Auntie!”

The woman stared blankly at her niece before the mud on her face crinkled, and she let out a nearly feral cry. “Andy! My little Andy!”

It was like a dam broke open. Ricky and the two scouts quickly strode forward, embracing our lost brethren one by one. Tears flowed down every face, and it was a miracle I managed to keep my composure. I was so completely filled with pride and joy, it was like it was welling out of me, filling every single cell before it flowed out to touch all the members of my pack standing around me.

Against all the odds, we were winning. We were reuniting.

And this time, I would make sure I never failed them.

14

VANESSA

“Iwould like to go on a date.”

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