Page 154 of My Monster’s Keeper

Clarity hits me.

“Song! Here Song!”

The braying warble of the excited dog bursts into the air and grows in volume as the blue dog comes racing towards me. I smile and crouch as himself dances around on two feet, wagging himself into almost falling over.

I scoop him up and laugh as he licks my face.

I freeze when the others just stare at me.

“What?”

“You laughed.”

“Repeatedly,” Becky says with a small smile. “It was nice.”

Pitch has draped herself across Frost’s shoulders and is watching us with a slitted eye.

“We need to find Diablos,” Becky mutters and leads the way towards the exit of a huge warehouse. “Last I heard, he was in a cage somewhere. By getting them out of there, we gave them a chance.”

“Wait-” Stix pulls her to a stop. He inhales deeply, his eyes burning as he turns around and around, catching the scent that is just reaching me.

“What happened to you?” Wilder asks gently.

“Oh, it wasn’t too bad,” She says, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

The truth is there in the air. I turn towards the strange smell; I put the pup down and follow the tease in the air. To a steel door. I kick the door open, and the stench of my mate, in agony and terror, rises. Her heat is etched into the walls. It’s soaked into every bit of the concrete. Every part of the room.

“Why wouldn’t you just give them what they wanted?” Wilder whispers. “Why would you let them do this to you?”

Becky lifts her chin. Her brown hair isn’t as shiny. Her blue eyes are chips of wildness. She’s thinner. I missed those details. Are those bruises on her skin?

“They wanted me to close the worlds and cut us apart forever. I wasn’t going to do that.”

“Becks,” Frost murmurs and grips her jaw. He kisses her hard and then lifts her and carries her out of the room.

I catalogue each and every single scent I find.

She went through all that for me. For us.

I feel another shift inside me. An alignment that changes me. My omega queen.

Stix crouches, reading the floor, the ceiling, the walls. He runs his hands over the chain, while Wilder pulls his own magic and has bugs and rodents sitting and conversing with him.

“She opened the gates permanently. For us. The worlds are open pathways to each other now,” Wilder whispers. “And there are two more. These doorways. Where do they go?”

“We can worry about it later,” Stix growls.

“She said she’d burn the worlds to get us back!” Wilder whips around to glare at the door. “You’re never, ever to go to war with anyone without us!” he shouts.

My smile is slow to come, not because of what he said, but because my mate’s pain is still saturating my mind. She’d burn the world for us? Worlds?

She is a worthy mate.

I stalk out, with Wilder and Stix by my side. Song joins us halfway down the hallway. I keep adding more scents to my death list. It really is becoming quite extensive.

“Where do we find the red one?” I snarl.

“Who?” Wilder blinks. “Oh, Diablos? He has a secret home. I’ve been there once. Chances are he’s lying low.”