Page 16 of Alpha Exile

For a moment, I just grin. Then Cat and I rush at each other, and I laugh aloud as I catch her in a bear hug, lifting her up off the ground. She hugs me back just as tight, gasping and sobbing with relief and pride.

I really did it.

And now that I knowhowto do it, I'm going to do it again.

I'll scorch the very earth to get my mates back from that bitch.

Seven

Lance

Darkness envelops us. If I were some kind of poet I'd give the darkness a name. It certainly seems to be alive at times, twisting and dense around us. There's a subtle, pulsing light around us, but it only reveals hints of the surfaces it touches. Everything it strikes is turned slightly greenish-blue with its color, making Bastian, who's walking ahead of me, look on the verge of death.

Something about the light reminds me of magic. I can't be sure, but I think we're deep inside the mountains north of the territory. That or we're thousands of miles away.

I've searched for ages for the bond within me. My wolf rages still at its absence. But no matter how much I try, I can't find her.

Delilah.

My love. My light. My reason for living.

And now, the one thing being kept from me that I ache for more than anything.

Iwillget back to her. I must.

Except that my body won't obey me. Traitor that it is, it marches on, following the wrong woman into the dark. And I despair that, despite my strength, I can't break free of this cursed spell.

A cool breeze winds across my skin, and I clench my jaw tightly to keep from shivering, not wanting to show the outward emotion. Forced into our human forms by Delphine, all five of us are naked now, our clothes stripped by her long, fine-boned hands.

I expected more to happen after that, but she only smiled, surveying us from head to toe the way an auctioneer looks at a piece of livestock. She made a pleased sound, then motioned for the vampires to tail us, and jerked us to follow her closely.

The hunger of the vampires is like a living presence just behind me. I think Delphine stripped our bodies naked to tempt them just as much us. Human and free of clothing, we're basically each large steaks for them to sink their fangs into.

It feels as if hours have passed, or possibly only minutes. Each step I take feels the same as the last. I know we're somewhere underground; I can feel us descending, the weight of rock and stone above us growing heavy. But the twisting walls and dipping ground beneath me have addled my senses. Without the sun or stars overhead, I couldn't tell you which way is which, and I think Delphine wants it that way.

She's trailed ahead of us some, her gaze roaming the darkness, looking each way down a split path. After a long moment she chooses the tunnel to the left. We follow her, trailing behind her further and further with each step, and I swear this tunnel looks identical to the one we just went through.

With her attention on the path ahead, Delphine has let some of her control of us slip. We're forced to follow her still, but I can feel my footsteps grow irregular, the steady march she put us on fading away. Bastian falls back a little, and so do I, putting more and more space between us and the hybrid.

Though not so much space that the feral, beyond-hungry vampires at our backs catch up to us.

"Do you think she sleeps?"

The voice is pitched so low that it takes me a moment to realize it's Roarke. He's behind me considerably, several steps at least; behindhimis Kieran, then at the end of the line, Finn. The latter seems to be dealing with some hissing, hungry vampires, which at first alarms me, until I realize that he's teasing them on purpose. Distracting them so that Roarke can pitch his voice low to speak to me.

"She must," I murmur in response, keeping my voice low as well. "Witches are human, after all, as are werewolves. Even immortal hybrids must sleep."

"That's when we'll make a move." There's a hiss from behind us, and we're quiet for several long moments again, until the vampires fall back, egged on by Finn trailing closer and closer to them. "While she's asleep, we'll go for those vials she's using to control us. Finn thinks he can get them."

I glance into the darkness, looking for Finn, but he's on the other side of a curve in the tunnels now. I pitch my voice low into my chest as I murmur, "Why not speak through the bond?"

"She can hear our thoughts. This is safer." Roarke clears his throat, and motions in front of me. "Think you can get Bas in on it? I'm pretty sure he—“

There's a sudden howl that catches my attention. Jerking upright, I turn around and race directly behind me in the tunnel, my heart leaping at the sudden freedom I feel. Delphine must be distracted, looking for a new bend in the tunnel, her eyes upfront instead of behind her. Roarke and Kieran don't move, though their eyes follow me as I rush towards the vampires, who howl again with bloodthirsty rage.

Just around the corner of the curve is Finn. He's down on the ground, surrounded by the horde of vampires, who are hissing and snarling at him with fangs exposed. One in particular has broken away from the rest and pounced on Finn's naked and exposed body, her claws out, eyes wild, and fangs stretching towards his jugular. Blood hits the air as the pale points of her fangs part his skin.

I don't waste time. Leaping on her, I grab her shoulders and wrestle her off Finn. The vampire is strong and feral, but it takes almost no effort. Strength pulses down my arms and into my muscles as I pull her to her feet and tug her away from Finn. I feel an endless reserve of energy within me, vibrant and alive at my sudden freedom, so I use it all to hold the vampire tight.

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