TALIS
The sound of a bolt sliding open jerks me awake, but I don’t move from where I’m sat propped against a brick wall.
There’s such a complete absence of light that even with shifter sight and senses, I can’t see the hand in front of my face, much less my legs stretched out in front of me.
What I do hear is the almost constant rustling, and chewing, and writhing of rats in the darkness, and when one brushes against me, I yank my leg away.
I barely manage to hold in my scream at the feel of its soft furry body and tail rubbing against my bare ankle.
I cannot stand rats, and this is the reason why. Their tails just kill me.
Yet no matter how much I hate the rats, it’s the darkness I hate the most. The not having any idea what time it is, or how long I’ve been in here, or how long I will stay here.
It’s my own solitary fucking confinement.
The longest I’ve been here is a week. So long my eyes hurt when Uncle Glynn opened the door and let me out. I think I was twelve then.
After the rage I saw in Uncle’s eyes this time, I fully expected to be in here for much longer.
So, the sound of the door slowly creaking open, when I doubt I’ve been down here longer than a day, has me blinking up in surprise at the thin sliver of light coming from the crack in the door.
I see Maria peering through the gap down at me.
“Quick,” she whispers, “come on. We don’t have much time.”
I don’t move from my position beside the wall.
Mostly because I’m scared I’m going to throw up again, and when you can’t see where it’s going, or if you’re sitting in the last place you threw up, isn’t pleasant. But also, her words aren’t making sense.
“Talis,” she whispers again, casting a hurried glance over her shoulder, “do you, or do you not want to get out of here?”
I’m scrambling to my feet in a heartbeat and rushing for the stairs.
In no time at all, I’m at the top and Maria is opening the door wide enough for me to slip through.
Although I know I must smell awful, I’m relieved she says nothing about the fact I stink of sick, fear, and stale sweat.
“This way.” In seconds she’s closed the basement door and is leading me toward the front door.
I put a hand on her arm. “I don’t under-”
“You don’t have time, you have to go. Now. You won’t get another chance,” she interrupts, yanking open the front door.
I follow her out, and try to keep my voice low, “Why are you helping me? Won’t Uncle-”
Maria moves quickly down the porch steps and toward the forest, and I follow close behind, glancing back a time or two to check if anyone from the house is awake or looking down at us.
But since it’s dark now, which means I’ve been in the basement for most of the day, and some of the night, it’s impossible for me to even know what time it is.
“He and Abel went into town. To the bank, I think. When they came back, they weren’t in a good mood. I don’t know what news they got, but I don’t think you want to be around when they wake up in the morning.”
“But won’t they hear?” I murmur as I follow Maria across the clearing and into the forest.
“They were drinking.”
I nearly bounce with excitement because I know this is it. This is the opportunity I needed to get away. “What time is it?”
Uncle and Abel like to get pretty smashed some nights, and when they eventually go up to bed, they’ll usually be out cold for hours.
I’ve lost count of how many times I planned to run away, knowing that by the time they woke up late the next morning, or sometime early afternoon, I’d be long gone, and they’d have no hope of finding me.
Only, I never did because things always came down to what I would do next.
I never had anywhere to go, and even if Uncle didn’t catch me, then I would have to deal with the fact I had nothing-no money, no friends, no family, and no place to go.
But this time is different.
Although the Hardin is hundreds of miles away, it’s a place that feels like home.
I have friends there. I have a bedroom. A mate. Clothes. I have a place beside the lake that brings me more peace than almost anywhere else in the world.
It is home.
And even if I have to hitchhike the whole way, or run in my wolf shape every night until I get there-if I manage to wake my sleeping wolf up, I’ll do it.
No matter what it takes, I’ll get there.
“About ten I think,” Maria says. “I don’t have my watch.”
I stop dead.
Maria keeps going for a few more steps before she realizes I’m not beside her.
Then she turns with a frown on her face. “Why did you stop? We have to keep going otherwise-”
“You lied,” I say. “About the time, and the watch. Why did you lie?”
She scrunches her face in confusion, and shrugs. “You stopped because you don’t believe me about the time? Don’t be silly, come on.” She holds her hand out, but I don’t move.
I wonder about Maria then.
She’s the submissive in a pack filled with predators and more cruelty than should exist anywhere. I wonder what would happen to a victim-to a submissive in a pack like this for all the years Maria has remained.
I survived it because I was no true submissive, but Maria…?
The way I see it, they can only survive two ways:
One, they keep their head so low, they hope to avoid attracting any attention, which might work for a little while, but not for years.
Eventually someone in the pack-Uncle or Abel or Loren, or one of the others would go looking for a victim, particularly if their usual punching bag wasn’t there. Like, gone to live with her new mate, for example.
Or, they can look to someone stronger. Some alpha to defend them. To protect them. But that would require loyalty. That would require complete and utter obedience.
I take in Maria’s large green eyes, and long dark hair threaded with white, gray hair. At around fifty, she’s the oldest among us. The one with the most wrinkles and a tired look in her eyes that says she’s had enough.
What would she give? What would she do to avoid being made into the pack’s newest victim?
“Submissives don’t lie,” I whisper as I take a step back. Not back in the direction we came, but at an angle, away from her… away from the house at my back. “Not unless someone has ordered them to.”
Now, everything she’s said makes sense.
She was always careful to be just vague enough, to have me make assumptions so I wouldn’t catch her in a lie.
Only, without realizing it, I’d forced her to answer a question that had only one answer, so her lie immediately struck me.
Which means Dayne was right. I am an alpha. Because only an alpha can pick up lies the way I just did, just as Loren should have been able to tell Maria was lying about Abel wanting to see her. Unless all this time Loren’s been telling a lie about being an alpha.
For a heartbeat, Maria’s eyes examine me in the darkness, completely without expression.
Then her gaze dips to the side and before I can turn to see what she’s looking at, the sound of slow clapping announces my uncle before I see him emerge from the dark forests.
“Well done, Talis.”
I edge back another step, keeping my entire focus on him.
He’s covered up his scent again, the same way he did when he abducted me.
Thinking about the abduction makes me think about the other wolf who was sneaking about the Blackshaw pack.
Abel.
I search the darkness for any sign of Abel because where Uncle is, Abel is never far behind.
Maria doesn’t matter.
Yes, she betrayed me, but it doesn’t surprise me, since I should’ve known better than to trust anyone in the Merrick pack. No one here gives a shit about me.
Still, Maria doesn’t matter because she isn’t a threat. She isn’t a predator.
Not like Uncle is. And not like Abel is.
“What do you want?” I force myself to ask, because the sooner I know, the sooner I can figure out how far I’m willing to go to get away.
I will run, there’s no doubt about it. But depending on how desperate the situation is, I can run one of two ways.
I can either try to get to the road and pray some passing car will stop, which isn’t likely unless it’s a weekend and there are lots of tourists heading to or from the Dawley National Forest.
But that’s dependent on time. If it’s later than Maria told me, which I’m guessing it is, since it’s dark enough to be the early hours of the morning, then that’s not going to happen, even if it is a weekend.
Because let’s be real, who’s going to be driving to and from camping at midnight or later?
The other way is… risky. A lot more.
That way I’ll have to get to a cliff edge and climb down. Since the fall is over the source of the lake, I can’t even jump and hope for the best because of all the sharp rocks in the shallow water.
I’d survive the fall.
Maybe.
But there’s every chance the fall will hurt me badly enough it’ll slow me down a lot. Too much. If that happens, I’d be a sitting duck, waiting for Abel or any one of the others to get to me.
Which means I’ll have to climb down and be careful not to fall. That way at least offers me my best chance of getting away.
I’d be in the national forest and there are a hundred different ways I can run. Especially if I manage to wake my sleeping wolf.
When Uncle Glynn grins at me, I go cold at the sight of his smile. The one that warns me something unpleasant is coming. “I learned something today. Something that makes me inclined to permanently do away with you since you’ve caused me nothing but trouble since you were born.”
Since I was born? What the hell is he talking about?
Before I can think too much about the bitterness lacing his words and the old fury I hear, Uncle is talking again.
“But it was Abel who suggested perhaps a game might be in order. It might prove a good way to let off some steam.”
Game.
The scent of my fear is sharp with what I know is coming next.
“And while I wasn’t much into it before, Abel’s idea to involve Maria, and letting you believe you might escape, put me in a better mood. It’s just a shame Maria tripped up like that.” He shoots her a narrow-eyed glare, and her fear is just as sharp as mine. “Because really, the thought of you having no idea you were being hunted at first. Thinking you were free, and then… suddenly realizing you weren’t…” He lets out a deep sigh of disappointment.
I start screaming at my wolf to wake the fuck up. But other than a sluggish snarl, there’s little of her presence.
“So, since I’m in need of entertainment…”
“As am I,” Abel says, stepping out of the forest, his eyes lit with excitement.
It isn’t hard to guess just what kind of excitement he’s after.
“I figure, why the hell not.” Uncle shrugs. “And after all the work Abel did in the Blackshaw land, not once letting himself get caught, why not offer him a little reward.”
Fuck the road, I’m throwing myself off the cliff if that’s what it takes to get away from Abel.
“And in case you thought it was just the two of us you had to contend with, I’ve decided to make it a free for all. For all time’s sake.”
Which means the rest of the pack will be hunting me as well.
Things just keep getting better and better.
On the heels of my thought, I hear a howl go up from the house, closely followed by another, and another. It’s the pack, preparing to hunt.
Uncle grins at me, his teeth flashing bright white in the dark. “I’d say the hunt has begun.”
He reaches for the hem of his shirt.
Spinning around, I plunge into the forest, running as if my life depended on it. Because right now? You can bet it does? And not just mine. I have a life inside of me it’s up to me to protect.
I have to get away.
No matter what it takes.