Page 44 of Forgotten Arcane (Broken Ashes #6)

Neith

T here’s no talking, or time to tell them that they should surrender or die, they just begin to attack. They outnumber us, but not by a lot, and I practically dance through them, my swords slicing through any wolf that tries to attack.

When I spot a wolf going after Logan, who is already fighting another one off, I surprise myself when an inhuman growl leaves my throat.

Several of the guys’ heads turn in my direction briefly when they hear it, but I don’t have time to read their expressions, as everyone has to turn back to whoever they’re fighting, and I continue to race toward Logan, who is now fighting both of the wolves off.

He's doing really well, awesome actually, but I’m not risking it.

Getting close enough, I launch myself, so I land on the wolf’s back, and swing Asael, slicing through the neck of the wolf with ease before he’s even had the chance to try and knock me off.

Logan shifts and rips out the throat of the one that’s attacking and then shifts back with a huge grin on his face, “Thank you. That was fucking awesome.”

I grin, “Anytime. Speaking of . . .” I point over his shoulder, and he immediately spins, his claws slicing clean through the neck of the attacking wolf, who is still in human form.

Looking around, I realize that they’re all dead.

“Good work, guys,” River says, once he’s shifted back, and so have the other wolves.

We all look around the space.

“Where the hell are they?” Dare asks. “There’s nowhere to stash them here.”

“Not that we can see,” I point out with a frown.

“Neith’s right,” Doc says as he looks around too, studying everything closely in case we’re missing something obvious.

“Neith,” Van starts, and I look over at him. “Why don’t you try to use your magic to find them?”

I could smack myself. Why the hell didn’t I think of that?

Nodding, I immediately call on my magic, asking it to show me where the rest of the pack is, and at the last second, remembering to ask it to make sure that the map is in my mind and not in front of me.

The magic quickly does what I’ve asked, and when the location comes up, I frown.

“What’s wrong?” Coen asks.

“They’re underneath us,” I reply.

“Dead?” Logan asks, sadness permeating his tone, as his shoulders slump.

I shake my head, “No, they’re not dead. One of them hasn’t got long left, and the others are hurt.

Some of them are worse than the others, but there are thirty women, one man, who is the one that’s near death, and forty-two children down there.

” I pause, and everyone is staring at me like I’ve grown a second head.

I don’t blame them. My maps have never been that specific or detailed before, and I’m pretty impressed myself.

I look at Logan, “Does that sound right?”

Logan nods, “Yes, that’s the right number. Asher, the beta, must be the one that’s near death.”

“How do we get in, Neith?” River asks me.

I start walking, following the map in my mind, and nearly walk straight into the cliff face in front of me. Glancing down at my feet, I nod.

Stomping my feet, everyone’s eyes widen when there’s a hollow sound that echoes back. “Here. There are tunnels that lead further in, and they’re at the end of one of the offshoots.”

“Let’s get this open,” River says, and I move out of the way, just as several jeeps come crashing through the woods and pull to a stop.

It occurs to me that they must have followed their noses and our scent trail to get here, since we had Dare, and he was the only one who knew where this place was. It just didn’t occur to me earlier to wonder how they were going to follow us.

“I’ll fill them in,” Logan says quickly. “And get them all prepared to look after the wounded.”

“We’ll head in first, and as soon as we know that it’s safe, we will lead those we can out, and the wolves up here can come and help us with the more wounded,” River says.

On the map in my mind, the body that is the beta, Asher’s, suddenly appears to get fainter than the others.

“Shit.” I curse, “Guys, we need to hurry up. Asher is fading quicker than I thought.”

They all nod, and within moments, the wooden doors buried in the ground at the base of the cliff are pulled open with such force that they’re pulled off their hinges and tossed to the side.

I move forward, “Follow me.”

Without giving anyone the chance to argue, I throw myself into the tunnel.

Not that they’re likely to argue with me, actually, because I’m the only one who knows where we’re going, and this cave system is full of wrong ways to go.

It’s a labyrinth down here, and you could easily get so lost that you would never get out.

Ransom throws up some orbs of light, and they move ahead of us, lighting up the way, and I realize that although I may not need to see because I can follow the map in my mind, those following me do.

Whoops.

I pick up the pace, knowing that all of the supernaturals can keep up with me, and we make quick work of heading further into the cave.

“How much longer?” Dare asks.

“Just around the corner,” I reply.

When we round the corner, anger crashes over me at the sight before me. No one is left uninjured. There are toddlers here, and even they are wounded. Wolves heal quickly, but not instantly, and these wounds have to have been inflicted regularly.

Everyone flinches at the sight of the women clutching the children to themselves, or hiding them behind themselves, snarls of warning on their faces that fill me with pride.

“Easy,” Logan says as he moves forward. “River killed the alpha.”

The snarling immediately stops, as they all look at River.

“Really?” one of the women says.

River steps forward, fury on his features, but he speaks calmly as he replies, “Yes, I killed him, and most of his loyal wolves. Those left alive are bound and unable to shift or escape.”

A collective cry of relief surrounds us.

Asher’s light flickers.

“Doc, quickly,” I say as I move away from the group as they disperse through the women and children, seeing who needs help more urgently, and who can walk out of here.

Doc doesn’t even question me as he follows after me. I lead him to the back of the cave where the wolf I know to be Asher is lying on the floor, and breathing shallowly.

As we step closer, the woman next to him growls and snaps at us.

“Shit,” Doc curses. “She’s his mate, and she’s panicking. Her mate is dying, and she knows it. There won’t be any way to reason with her. We need River. He should be able to calm her down.”

As Doc looks around the vast cavern, trying to locate River, I step forward and ignore the snap of the woman’s jaw and the glowing wolf eyes that stare back at me.

“We can help him,” I tell her firmly. “You need to move away and let us help your mate. I promise we will not let him die.”

Doc’s head snaps in my direction, “Well, shit. I should have seen that coming.”

I don’t question his words though, because the woman surprises me by moving to the side.

Doc rushes to Asher, and I wrap my arm around the woman who practically collapses against me.

“Please, please help him,” she begs, desperation in her voice.

“We will,” I reassure her, holding her tightly. “Doc’s the best healer I know.”

Doc suddenly looks up and shouts, “Raiden, I need you now!”

Raiden’s across the room and by Doc’s side within moments.

“What do you need?”

“I need you to hold his soul to his body, just for a few minutes longer so that I can heal the worst of it,” Doc says urgently.

The woman in my arms whimpers.

“It’s okay, they’ll save him,” I reply, because I know that they will. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that they will save Asher’s life.

“I’ll protect the soul. So he doesn’t have to feel the worst of it,” Raiden says.

The woman whimpers again, but says, “Thank you.”

Raiden doesn’t hesitate for a moment longer.

His magic swirls around him, making the surrounding wolves gasp at the sheer strength of it.

It surprises me when he doesn’t shift into his reaper form, where he’s dressed in robes and stupidly tall.

Instead, his eyes glow, the stars in them swirling, as he crouches on the other side of Asher to Doc and lays his hands on him.

“Perfect,” Doc says, letting us all know that it’s working.

It doesn’t take very long for us to be able to see Asher healing before us, and Doc gives Raiden the all clear to let go. The woman lets go of me and throws her arms around a shocked looking Raiden.

“Thank you. Thank you so much, I know that he would have died without you,” she says and then moves over next to Asher, and takes his hand while Doc finishes up.

I move over to Raiden, wrap my arms around him, and squeeze him tightly, “You did really well.”

“Thanks, gorgeous,” he replies, and he drops a kiss on the top of my head. “I’m going to go and make sure that no one else needs me. The others are all in here somewhere, helping the wounded or leading some of them out. River is directing it all and doing a really good job.”

I smile, “He’s really good at this.”

“He is,” Raiden grins.

Raiden walks back through the large cavern, and I turn back to Doc, Asher, and the woman.

“He should wake up in a few moments,” Doc says to her, and then looks over her beaten features, “Can I heal you?”

Her eyes widen, but she nods, “Yes, please.”

Doc holds his hand out for hers, and she takes it. Her tight features instantly relax as his healing magic washes through her.

“Thank you,” she says gratefully.

Asher suddenly sits up, spots us, and growls a menacingly low growl. Doc and I move backward as quickly as we can while keeping our eyes on the disorientated wolf.

His mate tries to talk to him, but it’s clear that he isn’t capable of listening to her right now.

The last thing he remembers is most likely trying to protect these pack members, and then being in excruciating pain and nearly dying.

That’s all that he knows, and we’re unfamiliar, so that means we’re a threat.