Chapter 233

Not having any other course of action, I brace myself, preparing for the synch of teeth on my neck. The seconds slow, and in this one terrible moment, I’m positive that I’m about to die.

My heart lurches, and I wish I could see Caleb just one more time.

Then, as if he appeared out of my mind’s eye, Caleb, in full massive Alpha werewolf form, lunges out from the bushes. Rushing, he bats away the attacking wolf as if it was nothing. In a flash, he protectively places himself between me and the attacking wolves.

There are many, each stepping slower out of the shadows of the trees now that Caleb has made their appearance. This might even be the whole of the hunting party, with so many present, and I’m sure, even more just out of view.

I brace myself for a gruesome and bloody battle.

Caleb glances back at me, and then out and around at all the wolves around us. I can’t tell what he’s thinking like this. Maybe he is weighing the odds.

I have no doubt that Caleb could easily survive this, but likely it’s my safety that is giving him pause.

If we are swarmed, it will be more difficult for him to protect me. He could survive an onslaught of blows. Me, however? Only one wolf needs to break through Caleb’s protection and I could suffer a fatal attack.

Those odds aren’t good enough for Caleb. Instead, suddenly, he swivels around, scoops me up into his massive alpha werewolf arms, and takes off the other direction.

It’s the fastest I’ve ever moved, the wind whipping in my face, despite Caleb’s best efforts to try to shield me from the world.

The other wolves are not as fast as Caleb, but their howls persist. They will likely follow us no matter how fast we run. Per the nature of the game, we must stay within the confines of the forest, which limits our options.

I glance up at the sky. Through the tree cover, I still see starlight in the deep blue black night. Morning remains so far away.

Will I truly be able to survive this? Should we just run?

But I cannot abandon Bethany or Tristan. We have to find a way to overcome.

Then, at the sound of a wolf call more distant than the others, Caleb slows a moment. We’ve already stretched a great distance, giving us a few minutes lead.

Caleb turns his head toward the direction of that last wolf howl.

“What is it?” I ask him.

He glances at me, but as he is now, he cannot speak. Still, I see something in his eyes… Almost… recognition? Is that possible?

Looking away from me, Caleb clutches me closely again and then begins to dash in the direction of the howl.

“Stop that useless racket,” Gladys scolds. “You will only succeed in drawing more guards to us.”

Tristan stops his howling only briefly, to look back at Gladys with a vacant, dull expression, before he returns to his efforts, throwing back his wolfy head and howling into the night.

Bethany watches with some fear for what might happen to Tristan, but he’s always so strong and brave. Already, he has survived as a prisoner for so long. She doesn’t believe there is anything that could frighten Tristan now.

Yet, not long after, true to Gladys’s warnings, a pair of soldiers rush down into the dark dungeons. Tristan continues to howl, even as they open his cell. He only stops when the beating begins.

Bethany whimpers at the sight. The guards are vicious, not stopping until Tristan is too weak to even stand.

“Mercy!” Bethany calls. “Please, have mercy!”

Eventually they stop and pull away. They don’t say anything as they leave Tristan’s cell and lock the door behind themselves. One of them glares at Bethany right before they walk away as if nothing happened.

Tristan hadn’t even tried to defend himself. Now, he remains in wolf form, broken and tattered on the ground. But he’s still alive, and that knowledge gives Bethany some relief.

Tristan isn’t an alpha wolf, but his werewolf healing factor will help him recover in time. He will survive this.

“I told you,” Gladys snaps.

“That’s not helpful,” Bethany tells her.

“If you would both be quiet and patient, then we have nothing to worry about,” Gladys says. “We just need to wait for my army to arrive.”

“Your… army?” Bethany asks. What in the world could she possibly be talking about, her army? “Aren’t you part of this rebellion?”

Gladys laughs once, loudly, as if she couldn’t control herself. It’s bitter though, and doesn’t last.

“How can you believe I would willingly agree to work with that vile person?” Gladys asks. “He is obsessed with your mistress. He can barely keep his head on straight at all. That anyone still chooses to follow him is a wonder. No. A rather large group of us branched away from Samuel’s pack some time ago.”

“There’s two rebellions?” Bethany asks, surprised. This hints that there is some kind of civil war brewing within the rebellion itself. That instability could be good for Harper and the king – though not if Harper and the King are currently fighting for their lives in the forest!

“We work hand in hand, of course,” Gladys continues. “For necessity, rather than because we want to, you understand. Many are still faithful to Samuel, not being able to see him as I. My half of the rebellion has no qualm with these people. We all want the same thing.

“Yet, despite my best efforts to maintain peace, the rebellion has split into two sects – those loyal to Samuel and those loyal to me. Until now, we’ve been able to co-exist, though not without tension between us. Unfortunately, this imprisonment is the final insult.”

“This base must belong to Samuel’s sect for him to be here,” Bethany says, slowly piecing things together. “And for these soldiers to imprison you…”

“It does,” Gladys says. “But do not be fooled, child. My imprisonment only helps to further my reputation with the people here. I am well-liked and high ranking. And an old woman, besides. To order me here, Samuel has made a most grievous error.

“While I don’t like the infighting that is occurring between our two sects, I will be using this situation to my advantage, most certainly.”

Bethany has some worry about how easily Gladys is sharing the inner workings of the rebellion. She hopes it’s because Gladys feels some comradery with them all being imprisoned, or perhaps her hubris does not allow her to see Bethany and Tristan, mere servants in her eyes, as threats.

The more fearful parts inside of me worry that she means to have as killed, or taken prisoner under her own rebellious cause. That’s not quite as happy a thought, though if it’s the case, Bethany is hoping more for prisoner rather than killed.

She doesn’t know Gladys well enough to suspect anything of what she might be thinking.

There’s also the matter of Gladys still being imprisoned within a fortress that is faithful enough to another leader to have her locked away.

“How can you can you use anything about this to your advantage?” Bethany dares to ask. Gladys has been forthright so far, why not push a little more? “When you are locked away here?”

Gladys smirks, more genuinely this time. She taps her cane on the ground in a certain, slightly angular way, and suddenly a secret compartment in the head of the cane lifts, revealing a small button beneath it.

Gladys pushes that button.

“What did you just do?” Bethany asks, when after a moment, nothing obvious happens.

Gladys looks at her. “I just started a war.”