Saved and Savaged

Chapter 9 - Keziah

Masculine voices float through the air, but although some strange beacon in my chest tells me we're going in the right direction, panic bubbles in my mind. Did we get lost? Go the wrong way? Did we try so hard to escape only to be caught in some sadistic cat-and-mouse game?

"Just a little further. Less than a mile. Fek and Lyc went ahead to find shelter."

My toes drag in the sand as I continue toward the voice, and with a labored breath I realize the thread in my chest, the thing leading me onward, connects to the massive alpha who claims to own me.

The sand evens out and becomes peppered with rocks so sharp I feel their points through my sandals. I try to remember if anyone didn't have shoes but can't recall the answer. I don't even know if Carmi has foot protection, and yet I continue to pull her forward.

Warmth ghosts across my nape before rich pheromones waft into my nostrils, but when I turn to look over my shoulder, no demon chases me. A few more times delicious sensations play across my flesh until I know I've either fallen into hallucinations or my alpha teases me.

As the mountain seems to spring up out of nowhere, altering the horizon so it looks as though there's no sky, my demon reveals himself. With his gigantic hand on the small of my back and his breath in my ear, he urges me to keep moving before disappearing again.

Despite my exhaustion, a shiver courses down my spine. Someone so large shouldn't be able to move so silently. He shouldn't be able to dart around us as though we're standing still.

His steps should shake the ground. His tail should drag in the sand. He shouldn't be running circles around us and smiling so his teeth shine in the moonlight.

I almost trip as the terrain changes between one step and the next, the tiny pebbles giving way to large boulders and smooth stone. We weave through a maze of rocks, whatever sounds we create echoing back to us. The eerie sense of quiet underlying our footfalls and ragged breathing makes the hair on my nape stand on end. It feels like a precursor to death, this utter stillness. There's no wind, no animals scurrying away, no sounds of water or signs of life at all, besides us.

The ground slopes upward until my feet threaten to slide out from under me.

"We found a few shallow caves a little way up. No supplies, but good shelter. The omegas can hide there while we scout a little further," the orange-scaled alpha's voice says, his slight rasp carrying clearly through the hallway of stone.

Steil responds, his grave tone emerging from behind us, but he's much closer than I expected, almost as though he's right on my heels.

"Good. Keep comms silent. Don't want to alert the ISC of our continued existence."

Somehow, amidst our dire circumstances, the grey alpha uses a dry, sarcastic voice as though this is just another normal day.

We rise above the rocky maze, the light of the stars returning the higher on the slope we go. I release Carmi's hand and push her in front of me, doing the same to the other woman as we turn onto a narrow path. My thigh throbs in time with my heart, a trail of blood oozing down onto my knee, but compared to the cramping in my stomach, it doesn't hurt. As we slow so we don't tumble down the steep incline, waves of heat war with icy blasts of pain, both originating from my abdomen. I push through the agony, focused solely on getting to shelter.

Not quite a level ledge, the path winds around the mountain, one side full of boulders larger than my alpha while the other side offers nothing but air and the occasional outcropping.

"Almost there, tiny fierceling."

Zings of electricity zap across my nerves as Gric strokes my arm, his green irises almost glowing in the faint light. His nearness infuses me with strength, my heart lifting despite my mind screaming in denial. He tilts his head, his horns blocking out the stars as he studies my face. I wish I could see him, but my eyes can't pick out more than his outline and vibrant irises. When my heel slips on an uneven stone, he rights me by my shoulders and murmurs more encouragement before disappearing.