Page 10 of Shifted Existence

Arrogant bastard!

The short in the wires fixed, Bailey ran back down the tunnel, not bothering to muffle her footsteps. She was certain he could hear her. Lurching around the corner, gasping for air, and hearing him as he neared the back of the cave where all of the tunnels converged, she pressed the switch.

CHAPTER6

This time instead of a hollow click, she heard the spark go down the wires and prayed there were no more shorts.

“Shit!” he snarled.

He must have recognized the danger. If her luck held, he’d be killed in the blast. If not, he would at least be stunned and on the other side of the cliff when she emerged from the underground shaft. The last thing she heard before the first of the explosives detonated was the sound of his heavy footsteps beating a hasty retreat to the front of the cave. Good. It was about time one of them had to run.

Bailey allowed herself the luxury of listening to the sound of the explosives bringing down the cavern and tunnels, hopefully trapping the massive wolf-shifter in the explosion and leaving one less of the devils to plague her and her kind. She thought then it might be the sweetest sound she’d ever heard.

Turning toward where she knew the tunnel would lead her, Bailey took off running. She wanted to be well away from the cliff. By the time she climbed up to the top of the escape hatch, night would have fallen. The good news was, she knew every inch of this ground. The bad news was, if the wolf had survived or if others had been close at hand, their night vision was much better than hers.

As she reached the ladder that led to the surface, the ground beneath her feet shook as the explosions had a cascading effect and the cavern and tunnel system began to collapse. The earth shuddered, almost making her lose hold of the ladder that led to the surface. She clung to it, as she knew her life depended on it. Should she fall, the imploding bluff would crush her. She reached the top and pushed open the hidden gate to the entrance of the escape shaft that emerged on top of the cliff.

Hearing a loud cracking noise, Bailey looked over her shoulder and watched as the top of the precipice began to collapse. She sprinted away toward where she knew the portal would open. She doubted they would think to look for her there.

Bailey’s plan now was to find a place to hide close to the portal opening and wait for a lone wolf to head back. If she could get behind the large boulder that lay almost on top of it, she could rush to the top and pounce on the unsuspecting shifter, driving one of her blades into his neck, while she grabbed his wrist band and escaped into the Eclipse Province.

She continued to run, even though it felt as though her heart would burst in her chest. The sound of the collapse of the top of the bluff urged her ever forward. Surely the massive wolf-shifter had not been able to escape. Cresting the top of the hill, she began to make her way toward where she could find the portal that would lead her, if not to freedom, then at least to a better way of life.

When she rounded one of the basalt columns, she allowed herself a moment to catch her breath and reorient herself. The earth had ceased its terrible thundering protest at her treatment of it. She sent a note of thanks heavenward to whatever power had allowed her to escape, and allowed herself a brief smile, which faded away as the howl of the wolf shifter made her shiver—this time not with desire, but with fear.

He was alive! How the hell had he survived? This accelerated her timetable and required a greater degree of caution. She needed one of those wristbands and she needed it now. She needed to leave this reality, the only one she’d ever known, before the next sunrise. She was certain that with light would come even more pressing pursuit.

As the last of his call faded away, she could hear another wolf answering him. Holy shit, they could communicate over long distances. And then a third wolf howled, and a fourth. How many of them were there? A fifth howl and then a last, shorter howl from the wolf who’d almost caught her sounded before the blessed silence of the night was punctuated only with the hooting of owls and the sounds of crickets.

The fourth wolf had sounded as if he were between her and her goal. She would proceed with caution, but maybe, just maybe, he was headed back to the portal. Bailey made her way along the crestline. It was harder to traverse, but shorter. She could tell she was gaining on the wolf-shifter who had howled fourth in answer to the one she’d tried to kill.

The closer she came, the more other sounds came to her. The sounds of a feral, having been captured and forced to go with the wolf-shifter back through the portal to the Eclipse Province. She would kill this one and give the feral he’d captured the choice to go through the Void to a new world or remain behind in this ravaged one that had been so quick to offer them up as breeding stock. Either way, Bailey meant to destroy the portal.

Continuing to move quickly but with great stealth, Bailey made her way around the wolf and his captive mate, ensuring she could get in position to steal his wristband, open a portal, race through, and then blow the thing the same way she’d destroyed her cavern. If it did other damage to the realities that bordered the Void, so be it. Let it be said that at least one woman of the Conquered Realm had chosen to fight, chosen to strike back, chosen to live free.

She had barely made it to her hiding place when the wolf-shifter came into the clearing, his hand tangled in the hair of a lovely blonde, one Bailey was certain she hadn’t seen before and who hadn’t lived among the ferals—she was too clean, too well groomed. Everything about her said she had been one of the women the villages had tried to hide. Bailey had no use for them. She had more respect for those who chose to go to the training facility than those who chose to believe that they should be exempted from consideration by the wolf-shifters. Bailey was willing to bet she was the daughter or granddaughter of one of those in power. Somehow, they never seemed to be selected.

“No. I don’t want to go with you,” the blonde said, trying to free herself. “You dragged me away from my home. I have a man who wants to marry me. You cannot do this.”

“That was not your or his decision to make. You are my mate, and you will return to the Eclipse Province with me,” growled the wolf-shifter.

“If we’d had a chance to consummate our union…”

The wolf-shifter gave an ugly snarl as he hauled her up to face him. “Had I caught him between your legs, I would have ripped him from you and killed him in front of your eyes. Then I would have claimed you as mine in front of your whole village.”

The blonde wailed, and to his credit, the wolf-shifter tried to soothe her. “You are mine now,” he crooned. “You will see when we return to the Eclipse Province.”

“You’re just afraid of him. You fear he will come for me and challenge you.”

The wolf stroked her hair and bestowed a kiss on her forehead. “He would not dare. If I did not kill him, your own people would be forced to. To violate the treaty or interfere with the Hunt is to ask for death. We will be happy. When your belly grows round with our child, you will see I am right and wish him well, but know you are where you belong.”

With the wolf-shifter focused on the blonde, Bailey sprang from her hiding place, bringing the knife down in a savage blow that forced him to release his captive to face this unexpected threat. He backhanded her as the blonde ran from her. She ran, leaving Bailey to face the wolf-shifter alone. Another feral never would have done that. Ungrateful bitch! The blonde had tried to hide herself away. She and her family and friends had thought to keep her out of the hands of the wolves. Well, good luck and good riddance to her.

Bailey surprised the wolf when, instead of backing away, she stepped into him, dragging the knife across his ribcage and opening him up. Not enough to eviscerate, but enough to cause him to growl at the pain. He advanced on her, and Bailey saw a rock at her feet. As he reached out, trying to grasp her, Bailey feinted and dove to her left, grabbing the rock as she rolled past and then springing to her feet and bringing it down on his temple.

The wolf collapsed, breathing but unconscious. Bailey reached for the wrist band and tugged. It did not come loose in her hand. She wedged her knife underneath it, trying to cut it away, but to no avail. She could hear one, possibly two large predators crashing through the brush in her direction. With no other choice, she raised the unconscious wolf’s arm and pressed the middle button on the wrist band. A red light shone, but no portal appeared.

Recalling what she’d witnessed in previous hunts, she took a deep breath, giving the device time to reset, waiting for the red light to blink off. She could hear those who would capture or perhaps kill her growing closer as they closed in. She glanced at the red button, thankful when it finally went dark. This time she pressed the two smaller buttons on either side and when the center one turned green, she pressed it.

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