Page 95 of Bad Wolf's Nanny
He could smell ash. Blood. Fear.
And something worse—Lola's scent, faint but recent, tangled in fear and sweat and smoke. His gut twisted. His wolf surged forward beneath his skin, demanding to shift, to run, to tear through every barrier between him and her.
But he held it down. Barely.
Felix raised a fist, and the line of Iron Walkers stilled. Rick appeared beside him, quiet as death, bracing against the trunk of a pine. Felix leaned close, voice hushed.
“No movement on the perimeter. Whatever guards Red Teeth left behind, they’re inside.”
Rick nodded, scanning the tree line. His expression was carved from ice. “Too quiet. They want us rattled.”
Dane’s hands were fists against the dirt. His breath came hard and hot.
“We need entry points,” Felix murmured, “front’s a death trap. Suggestions?”
“Back emergency corridor,” Nicolas said from behind, his tone clipped, “if the blast didn’t collapse it.”
“What about the sub-cellar?” Rick asked. “Old foundation access? There used to be a storm grate near the loading dock.”
“Blocked,” came a voice, one of the scouts, “collapsed in the explosion. Too much debris.”
Dane moved to the edge of the clearing, eyes narrowed. The Club sat like a beast waiting to pounce, every door and window a snare. His mind churned with every possible path, every likely trap. But the truth stared him in the face. Red Teeth had fortified the place. Deliberately. Thoroughly.
And somewhere inside, Lola was trapped.
He crouched low beside Rick, fists pressed to his knees.
“It’s worse than we thought,” he growled, “he buried them in.”
Rick crouched beside him. “He knew we’d come. It’s bait. I’ll admit, I didn’t think Red Teeth capable of this sort of strategy. It’s a beautiful trap.”
“And we’re walking into it,” Nicolas muttered.
“No choice,” Felix said from behind them. “We let fear dictate our moves; he wins.”
“We’re not letting fear dictate anything,”Nicolas snapped, standing, “but we don’t charge in blind, either. We need a way in that doesn’t get them all killed.”
The team circled the perimeter slowly, whispering, scanning for weaknesses, for movement, for anything. But every possible entry was a dead end. Rubble, flame, unstable beams. A grave, waiting to collapse.
Dane stood in the shadow of a tree, chest heaving.
Lola was in there.
Pregnant. Terrified. Unprotected.
He pressed a hand to the bark, grounding himself.
They had to find another way in.
But right now?
They had nothing.
Felix turned to them, his expression grave.
“We regroup. Ten minutes. Then we decide how to breach.”
Dane didn’t answer. He just kept staring at the ruin, the heat of helpless rage flaring behind his eyes.
