Page 35 of The Hidden Falling
From here we can see the main housing cabins surrounding us, and the place at the center that Rhea calls the gathering, where I first saw the pack. We’ve been here for over a week now. Taylor, Zaide and Damian have been taking some of the men with them to search The Deadlands, making sure the Elites are safe. The only way they can get back here is on foot since our port stones have been drained of magic since entering through the invisible barrier, so we have to be careful they don’t get lost.
I still don’t understand how the barrier around Eridian drained those stones. I haven’t come across a barrier like that apart from when the Highers’ witches get together to create one, and that’s only possible if the witches rank at a high level. The Highers have the strongest witches in Vrohkaria, except for the ones that live in the southwest woods with their coven. But hey refused to bend to the Highers’ will and law, and they still don’t cooperate now. So how did Eridian get its barrier? From those witches?
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Leo grumbles, finally answering me. “This whole search and rescue is fucking pointless. We were never going to find her in the first place, or Rogures.”
“I agree, but it’s either I become a Higher or this, and I need to get rid of the Rogures before I commit to anything. The lands across Vrohkaria are going to shit with no end in sight, and the people are fighting amongst themselves then pointing fingers at who they think is to blame. If we can’t find a solution, there will be nothing left by the time the Rogures destroy everything.” I couldn’t give a fuck about becoming a Higher, It was something my father wanted me to be, and at the time, I agreed. But things change. The lands fucking changed. “We are the Elites, we are supposed to protect Vrohkaria, and we haven’t managed to do that.”
The taste of failure is bitter and leaves anger in its wake. The Elites’ purpose is to protect, and we can’t even do that.
“We can only do so much, Darius. You can’t shoulder the full responsibility of the Rogures on your own,” he sighs, scanning the area and watching Rhea’s pack get on with their daily chores.
“I swore I would get justice for my family, and I will. Nothing will get in the way of that.” We’ve had this same conversation many times before. Leo tells me I’m taking on too much, and I reply that it’s my responsibility as the Alpha of the Elites. It only leaves us both pissed. I shake my head and watch the people mulling about, changing the direction of the conversation. “There is something not right about this place, and I can’t figure it out.” Eridian shouldn’t exist. No record or map shows life in The Deadlands throughout the history of Vrohkaria. Eridian is an anomaly, and not knowing how it came to be angers me.
“I know, it’s definitely not normal,” Leo says. “But if you can’t figure it out, we have no chance of doing so.” We watch the pack give my men a wide berth as they move around the center, scurrying off with their pups as soon as one comes in sight. Jerrod looks in the direction a mother and son ran, pausing as he watches the now empty space before carrying on. “Why do they act like that? It’s like they have never seen another person.”
“I don’t know, and I don’t believe the bullshit Rhea told me either.” The lies that come from that woman’s mouth just show the type of wolf she is.
She has tells when she lies, and over the past week, I’ve figured them out. She’s naive to think she can hide from the Alpha of the Elites.
He scoffs. “You would have to be a fool to believe what comes out of her mouth.”
I nod. I don’t believe half the shit she said to me in her office that day. I think she knows it as well, but what is she hiding that she can’t just say? What’s the problem with declaring to the Highers where they live? It doesn’t make sense. They could even live a better life than they are now. It isn’t a shit hole here, but it isn’t anything that’s considered as standard in the lands either. Even the way the pack is structured and works is strange.
“It’s time to start asking more questions. She thinks I’ve dropped it by leaving it alone for a few days. She should have realized that I’ve just been observing. She has no idea that the men have been reporting back to me daily.” Stupid wolf. She thinks she’s safe in her own home. She will soon understand nowhere is safe for her anymore. Not from me. I have her scent. Earth and rainwater, with hints of a wildness that I can’t pinpoint where I have scented it before. Either way, I can track her anywhere if she is close enough, and my wolf likes the thought of that.
“Want me to come with you?” Leo stands and shakes out his arms, still observing Rhea’s pack.
“No. Go and wait for the men at the bottom of the cliffs where they left yesterday,” I tell him. “They will be back soon.”
I’ll admit, I’m still shocked at what I saw when we went atop the cliffs where The Deadlands are. The cliffs encase an odd rectangular valley below, that is what they call Eridian, that protects the life that flows through it. Tall, healthy trees grow in the valley, and there are two different sized lakes with the bluest water I have ever seen. There are strange birds and some unusual animals that live there. Further along, there is an opening that looks like water spilling over the edge toward the Unforgivable Sea, the only opening in the valley.
There are waterfalls coming out of the cliff sides that surround Eridian, and when you look toward the center of the valley, there’s a ring of what I now know are lilk trees, their colors vibrant amongst the normal greens of the other trees. That’s the protection circle that surrounds Eridian. Everything about this place is unnatural. I refuse to believe this has been here all this time.
I walk down the steps of Rhea’s home, our temporary resting place, and make my way down the dirt path. Leo goes off to the right toward the forest outside the barrier, heading to the cliffs. There are some creatures and animals in the forest, but nothing like in The Deadlands, so he has nothing to worry about. I continue forward, then veer off to the left when I pick up Rhea’s scent, a beacon to my wolf who stirs in excitement.
He likes being near the little wolf, when all I want to do is strangle the life out of her, but maybe do it while I’m inside of her. I shove that thought away. Whether they were trainees or not, the fact is that the little wolf killed some of them and even dared to try and kill all of us. That can’t be forgotten, no matter how I forget about everything and anything when I look into her eyes.
Those fucking eyes.
I continue on, eventually coming up to the lilk trees. I study them as I pass through the invisible barrier, feeling a caress against my soul that I always feel when crossing it. My wolf, Drax, practically fucking purrs at the feeling, contentment oozing from him, and I growl within myself at him. I pick up speed, heading into the forest and opening my senses around me. Nothing in particular reaches me as I track down the little wolf, only the usual sounds of animals skittering about.
It isn’t long until I hear her footsteps up ahead, quiet, but not quiet enough to hide from me. I stalk through the trees, excitement running through me at seeing the spark in her eyes when she sees me. I don’t think she even knows she does it, but she does. Her reaction to me intrigues me like no other, and my reaction to her makes me want to kick my own ass.
From the first moment I saw her in The Deadlands, everything within me wanted to hunt her. To get to her. Her eyes were wide, lips parted, chest heaving, and I wanted nothing more than to pin her to the ground and watch her eyes go wide for a different reason.
Drax was also riding me hard. He wanted to tear out of my skin and run to her, and it took a lot of my control to get him under wraps.
Our reaction to her isn’t normal.
I follow the sounds of her steps, light and delicate, until eventually I see her up ahead, her hand on one of the trees with her eyes closed. I stop and watch her closely. The steady breaths she takes, the stance she is in and the round curve of her ass in her shorts as she stands still. I tilt my head.
What the fuck is she doing?
I stalk forward, silent and sure, until I’m at her back and feel the heat of her body soaking into mine. I lean forward slowly until my lips are next to her ear. I see her still, her breath hitching, and it causes me to smirk, knowing she feels my presence. “What are you doing, little wolf?” I murmur, my bottom lip touching her ear as they move.
She spins, and I move my head back while she glares up at me, her ice-blue eyes so full of anger it gets me hard. I want to see tears in them again. I want to see them shine like the clearest glass as they water. I want it.
Icraveit.
