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His eyes landed on the cage next to his, and he saw that Zara was beginning to wake as well. She was clothed, as was he, which he found odd, considering they’d phased, and their clothing had been ruined. “You okay, babe?” His eyes scanned over her, looking for any injuries.

She held up a thumb. “All good. Nothing broken. But, dang, I’ve got a headache.”

Across from him, Nick was pacing in the entirely too small space, his wolf simmering just under the surface.

His eyes glowed faintly, and his jaw appeared clenched so tightly that Wadim wouldn’t have been shocked if the dude broke some teeth.

Nick was staring hard at the cage next to his, which is where his pregnant female was.

Kara was sitting cross-legged in her cage like she was at a picnic, because why not?

Her head tilted as she studied the trolls, that he now noticed, with unnerving curiosity.

“This reminds me way too much of The Hobbit, ” Zara’s eyes scanned the space.

Kara perked up. “Right? Like when the dwarves were captured by the trolls? That seriously could have turned out bad.”

“I haven’t read these books you speak of,” Aphid said from his own cage, which seemed to glow brighter than the other cages. “They sound interesting.”

“They’re good.” Kara nodded encouragingly.

Nick shot her a glare. “Not the time, babe. Yeah?”

“Relax, Thorin Oakenshield,” she shot back, waving a hand dismissively. “I’m just saying, if these trolls try to eat us, maybe we should start reciting poems. Worked for Bilbo.”

Wadim snorted, unable to help himself. “While I applaud your literary reference, I don’t think these trolls are the poetry-appreciating type. Unless it’s about food. Specifically, us as food.”

“That’s not helpful, Wadim,” Nick snapped and narrowed his eyes at the historian.

“Neither is your pacing,” Wadim shot back. “You’re going to wear a trench in the dirt.” Wadim paused and then added, “But that trench might dig us out of here, so carry on, Thorin.”

“Remind me how it is that you all have survived this long?” Gavril asked from the cage he sat in a good ten feet away. Rachel’s cage was beside him, and she was sitting as well, calmly looking at the trolls who were staring back at them.

“If you’re annoying enough, your enemies just give up and leave,” Wadim answered. “Just ask Jen.”

Zara snorted a laugh which made him smile. He loved making his mate laugh. Wadim winked at her and wished he could hold her.

“Enough.” Nick growled, his wolf riding him hard. He turned his glare on Kara. “And you, my lovely mate. Could you maybe not antagonize the creatures that currently have us locked up like livestock?”

Kara shrugged. “I’m just saying, if we’re going to die, we might as well go out with some flair. Maybe a haiku. Get it?” She asked, looking from Wadim, to Zara, and then to Nick. “Because in The Hobbit, they wrote poetry, and a haiku is a type of?—”

“I know what a haiku is.” Nick pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like a prayer for patience.

Wadim, meanwhile, was doing his best to ignore the growing tension and focus on the trolls.

His historian instincts had kicked in the moment they’d encountered the trolls.

Even when they’d been running from the rabid beings he couldn’t stop himself from trying to piece together the puzzle of their existence.

Or at least their continued existence here.

As he’d noticed before their capture, the trolls were a motley crew, their appearances as varied as the colors in a painter’s palette.

Some were tall and humanoid, with rough, leathery skin and sharp features.

Others were squat and hunched, with gnarled limbs and beady black eyes.

A few even had that ridiculous tufted hair Kara had mentioned earlier, though Wadim decided that he should probably keep that observation to himself, at least until he started documenting this craziness once he was back in his basement.

What fascinated him most was their apparent survival in the troll realm.

When Fane had suggested it, Wadim had thought they’d find maybe a handful, if any, considering according to the records in the Romania pack archives the trolls had all but vanished from their own realm centuries ago, driven out by the fading magic.

Yet there were so many of them, alive and thriving—or at least surviving. How?

“I have so many questions,” Wadim murmured.

He scanned the trolls as they bustled about the cavern.

Some were sharpening crude weapons, while others were hauling what looked like supplies—sacks of grain, bundles of dried herbs, and even a few cages with smaller creatures that appeared to be some kind of livestock.

Nick shot him a look. “Now is not the time for your need to document everything, Wadim.”

“Dude, it’s literally my job,” Wadim replied, undeterred. “If we survive this, I’m going to document everything. This is a monumental discovery. The trolls are thriving. They’ve managed to adapt, even with the waning magic. I need to know how.”

“I feel like there’s a T-shirt in there somewhere.” Kara tapped her chin, then snapped her fingers, “Got it. ‘If we survive this, I need to know how.’ Boom . New Wadim shirt. All proceeds go to the Kara Foundation.”

“Do I even want to know what the Kara Foundation is?” Nick asked hesitantly.

Kara grinned, though the sadness in her eyes made Wadim’s chest tighten. “It’s the Foundation for Crazy Wheelers. I have a feeling that, one day, we’re going to need lots of meds to cope. Better to go ahead and get a jump start on the funds for all the crazy you males are going to have to control.”

Wadim laughed. “It’s not just you wheelers that need meds, Kara. Anything that starts with ‘she’ and ends with ‘wolf’ is under the protection of the Kara Foundation.”

“I’m not going to be in this cage forever, history boy,” Zara said as she met his gaze.

“Ouch,” Nick muttered with a slight chuckle.

Wadim tipped his head to her. “Of all the females, you’re the sanest, Zara. And the prettiest.’”

Kara laughed and, for a moment, all the trolls paused and looked at her as if she was some sort of strange bug. “Suck up.” She grinned at him.

“He is,” Zara agreed, “But he’s a hot suck up, so he gets away with it.”

Kara sighed. “Same with Nick. Damn them and their good looks.” She shook off the thought and seemed to refocus herself on their current situation.

She seemed equally curious and perhaps it was a way for her to distract herself from all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, not to mention that she was pregnant and being held captive by trolls.

“Do you think they’ve figured out a way to harness what little magic is left in this realm? ” Her eyes were bright with interest.

Nick groaned. “Seriously? You’re encouraging him?” He looked at Gavril. “A little help here, yeah?”

Gavril shook his head. “I learned long ago that you can’t control your mate. All you can do is protect them from whatever they get themselves into.”

Rachel smiled at her mate. “He’s like that rubber part around a bumper car, shielding me so when I run into things, I just bounce off of them.”

Aphid let out a deep breath as he looked at each of them. “I think I’ll remain mateless. Seems simpler.”

Kara looked at the fae warrior and her brow rose. “Speaking of mates, why exactly haven’t you flashed out of that cage, Aphid?”

“What in the world does that have to do with mates?”

“Nothing, but he said mates, and I remembered he’s a fae, and fae don’t really mate the same way wolves do. I mean, at least they didn’t. I mean, obviously they mate, mate. But not true mates, and because I remembered he’s a fae, I remembered he could flash.”

“All of that just went through your head?” Gavril’s eyes widened.

Kara nodded. “Busy place up here.” She tapped her temple. “Lot’s going on.”

“Whatever magic they have on this cage,” Aphid interjected, “I’m unable to flash. The net that covered us had the same magic.”

Before anyone could respond to his explanation, a hush fell over the cavern. The trolls stopped what they were doing, their heads turning in unison toward the far end of the room. Wadim followed their gaze, and his breath caught in his throat.

The troll was enormous. He stood over seven feet tall, and his broad shoulders hunched as he ducked under the low ceiling.

His skin was a mottled gray, like weathered stone, and his eyes gleamed like polished obsidian.

He wore a cloak of what appeared to be wolf pelts—an observation that did not sit well with Wadim—and a crown made of twisted iron and bone.

In one massive hand, he carried a staff carved from a single piece of dark wood, its top adorned with a glowing crystal that pulsed faintly with an eerie, greenish light.

“Well,” Kara whispered, her eyes wide as she took in the imposing figure. “This just got interesting.”

“Your definition of interesting needs work,” Nick muttered.

“What could be more interesting than a massive troll that might want to cook us in a pot?” she countered.

Wadim couldn’t disagree.

Nick cut her a quick glance. “Maybe don’t give them any ideas on how to eat us, yeah?”

“Judging by that furry pelt, he doesn’t need any ideas.

” Leave it to Kara to once again point out the obvious.

While Wadim could appreciate her pragmatic attitude, it seemed that Nick would have preferred his mate keep her thoughts to herself.

He should know better by now. Wadim imagined that Zara probably felt the same way about him, which made him smile.

The troll—who, based on the crown, Wadim surmised, must be their king—surveyed them with a sneer, his lips curling back to reveal jagged, yellowed teeth. “These are the intruders?” he rumbled, his voice deep and gravelly, like rocks grinding together.