Page 16

Chapter sixteen

Dirus Morales

I laid on my cot staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. I wasn’t sure if it was caused by the way I’d already failed to protect Astria and not trusting my men to not upset her, or if it was the memory of her arms around me making me feel empty. Both fought for my attention.

One eye and ear stayed on the two celestial witches sleeping across the room. And the other set ran me through the wringer.

She was right. I fought every instinct I had about her since we met. I’d fought the raging need to declare for her with every word out of my mouth. How could I expect her to understand that all she needed to do was be herself?

What if I did declare for her? Could I leave the Grandpack where I’d climbed my way from orphaned mutt to highly respected captain and join her non-existent pack? What would the two elder wolves, who taught me how to be a man, think if I did something so impulsive?

Rios walked up. “Hey, boss.”

“What is it, pup?” I never took my eyes off her sleeping form. I should have given her my cot. She would have been more comfortable. It was a shame that I let two omegas sleep on a pallet.

There was the conundrum again.

He didn’t comment on the fact I was staring at Astria and her child. “I think I picked up a radio signal. I went up top and it was hidden by the hills. But it’s there. They are right. Someone is broadcasting.”

“What’s it say?”

“That’s the weird part. It’s clicking sounds, but it’s not morse or anything.”

“Let’s go.”

“Should I wake up Astria?”

Yes, we needed her information. No, she hadn’t slept well. Every time someone rolled over, she jumped awake and clutched her baby to her.

Another mental battle.

“No.” I finally let instinct win. Probably, we couldn’t get out of here without her waking up, anyway. I whistled and all my men popped up, ready to roll in minutes.

I wrote a note and placed it beside her. She hadn’t moved an inch, even as I loomed over her. Even as my wolves scrambled about the room. I wasn’t dumb enough to think that she suddenly thought she was safe. She was exhausted.

Someone needed to stay with her. We were already at a disadvantage and outnumbered. We needed everybody.

“Nowak.” I straightened up and turned to face my men.

“Yes, sir.” My third in command lowered his voice to match mine. I hadn’t even realized I was whispering until then.

“Stay and watch after the celestials.”

“Yes, Sir.” He nodded.

“I trust you know what will happen if you fail to do that.”

He smirked. “I’m not new.”

His eyes went over to her, and I didn’t miss the softness there. I’m sure there was something similar in mine. This woman was going to dig her hooks into everyone here. Whoever she didn’t trap, the kid would.

Across the cave, Wallace wore that damn flower necklace the girl had made for him. Marshmallow bastard probably forgot about her tying it around his neck when it wouldn’t stay on his giant head.

I tugged on my collar, and his eyes went wide as he remembered, and carefully took it off, trying his damndest to keep it intact.

“Perhaps I could set up some cameras.” Rios dug in his bag.

“You have limited battery, right?”

The pup’s eyes went over to the two celestials. He nodded.

“Save it for an emergency.” I’d feel stupid for wasting the battery if we needed to be extracted for some reason and I couldn’t get a call to the men who made me look like I was the pup.

“Roll out.”

Everyone followed my lead, stepping as silent as possible to not be heard.

Nausea nagged me the whole way to the source of the transmission. The further away from her we went, the more I wanted to turn back and bring her with me. I couldn’t win, even when I let my instincts do what they wanted.

We came up on a small radio tower deep in the woods hours later. The facility was well hidden and far away from the village. We studied it from the ridges.

“Anyone got anything?” I asked over the walkie.

“No one is here. From the outside, it looks abandoned.”

“Enter,” I commanded and I could see my men busting down the door through my scope. Ready to cover their six if they needed to retreat.

“Clear,” echoed over and over as my men searched the facility.

Those of us covering up top came down and entered the building. Rios looked at the rocks littering the ground. “Astria said these attack magic. That’s how the collar worked. Someone didn’t want any witches coming here.”

“Everyone here is a witch,” I repeated Astria’s words from before. “Except us.”

We walked in and found a small workshop. Drawings were all over the walls. Torture devices of every kind. Some I recognized from the engineer’s portfolio and others were new.

On the desk was a bunch of drawings more brutal than all the others. On top was a letter.

“As the engineer, we demand devices that will better modify the behavior of the feral woman that refuses to obey orders,” Wallace read out loud. So the higher ups were demanding an increase in brutality.

“We’ve been to a lot of fucked up places, boss.” Pierce studied the walls. “But this place is its own breed.”

“As the star witch ages, she becomes increasingly combative and hostile. Her magic is still growing, and the dampener collar is becoming less effective by the day. She must be tamed before we are completely unable to control her. Despite our best hope, Captain Zielle has been unable to complete this task. I don’t care what you have to do. Make her comply,” Wallace finished.

“All this to control one woman.” Rios rolled his eyes. I was glad the notion was so ridiculous to him.

“That one woman is going to destroy their way of life. Think about the politics, pup.” Wallace smiled at him. “What happens when she fully wields her magic? Omegas are natural leaders. What woman here wouldn’t follow a leader that would protect them?”

“I thought that was just with wolves.” The pup cocked his head, curious about this new fact.

“The old wolves talk about how celestial witches were magnets for people from all walks of life,” Kadeem told him. Ah yes. Raj Ahmed would come to the orphanage and tell us grand stories about the celestials from his time.

That their soft nurturing side and fiercely protective loyal side were a magnet for anyone needing guidance. That they soothed the rough edges of even the most violent alpha.

I stared at the pictures, swallowing the rock lodged in my throat. “They’ll kill her and that baby before they let that happen.”

Cause that’s what I would do.

“We have to get them out of here,” Rios spoke up. “We are bound by the stars to protect them.”

“I know.” But as Wallace already pointed out, going home with her wasn’t what was best either. Astria didn’t need to go into a whole new world full of brand new threats. She’d trust no one if we took her there.

“It looks like his signal isn’t broadcasting to anyone. It’s making one of their illusion shields malfunction. The sound waves were designed to interfere with the magic, making this pocket invisible.” Rios studied the mechanism.

“Why?” Wallace asked.

I grabbed an old tattered book from his desk; The History of Celestials and the Lupus Constellation. “So we would find her.”

He knew we’d be attracted to her magic and come check it out. We were supposed to come save her.

“There’s a tape.” Wallace popped it into the VCR. I wanted to laugh at the outdated technology. That was probably high tech for them. I followed the cord to a small generator in the back.

A man with blond hair and blue eyes came onto the screen. He was covered with tattoos and the brand of the bitch was red and infected on his chest, ruining some of his ink. “If everything has gone according to plan, you should be a pack of wolves and not the pricks that run this place. My name is Matthius Kovac. I’m known as The Engineer. By the time you have arrived, I assure you I am long gone, so don’t bother looking for me. Whether it was by death or plan, searching will only be a waste of your precious time.”

“Last week, Astria Zielle committed a high crime. When I tried to release her from the box, the escape failed and we were both caught. With any luck, you have already met her. No doubt they need her to deal with you. Otherwise, she’s still in the box at the prison. Hopefully.”

He stared off in the distance, like he wasn’t so sure she’d make it long enough.

“ I’ve lost my post, so my mediocre safeguards won’t protect her anymore. I’ve dismantled all my work, hoping to buy you time. No doubt they will need to come up with something that makes a statement, so the other women never think of questioning them again. Once you find this, remove her from the island at once. Astria and Kylie Zielle are in extreme danger. Take caution. They would rather burn this place to the ground than allow her to leave.”

The tape cut off, and the silence in the room was deafening. Every wolf stood ready for their orders.

“He was in love with her,” Wallace noted softly, but in the silence he might as well have shouted.

I nodded my head. He tried to buy her, but the game was rigged. And we couldn’t find any other attempts to purchase a wife since.

“I’d say more than that,” Pierce said, flipping the corkboard next to the desk. There were drawings of her pinned all over it. He seemed to like her best when she was smiling at her baby.

I agreed with him. It was when she shined the brightest. The engineer was obsessed with the celestial witch.

“Uh, guys,” Rios spoke up, squatting to the floor to pick up a pin. “Isn’t this for Nadine’s men?”

He held it up and sure enough, it was the silhouette of a wolf howling at the golden moon. The insignia was one of Nadine’s personal guards.

Our pack had already been here to investigate. But they hadn’t extracted Astria or Kylie, and they sent in a second team, even though they already knew what was here.

I thought back to our arrival. Some of the men were surprised, but the ones with higher power weren’t. The governor was barely phased.

This whole ‘job’ was a trap.