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W e’re going to die.

Humans have an innate reaction when faced with danger, which must be why my body operates on autopilot as I gulp in a huge breath of air, sealing my eyes and mouth as the sand covers us completely.

Before I can parse what’s truly happening, the suction feeling turns into a freefall, then an abrupt halt. A strained grunt comes from below me, and I realize I’m laying on top of Bear, who is in turn laying on top of a large sand mound. We weren’t in this position as we were falling, so the only thing I can think is that he must have spun us so he would take the brunt of the fall.

My weight can’t be helping after he got the wind knocked out of him, so I try to scramble up, only to have his large hand grip the back of my neck, stopping me. His eyes scan my body before searching my face. He must be satisfied that I’m fine enough, because he lets me go .

“Nice of you to join the party.” We both whip toward Roman, who apparently has lost his ever-loving mind if he thinks now is a good time to joke.

“Did you hit your head in the fall?” Cora’s retort tells me she also thinks his behavior is out of character. That, or she still isn’t over their little spat that caused this whole thing.

Bear and I sit up, then carefully slide down to the stone floor where Roman and Cora are. We’re in some kind of room, or hallway, it’s hard to tell with only the dim light from the hole above us.

“Are you guys ok?” Bear asks.

Before any of us can answer, someone else comes flying through the hole we just fell through. He tucks and rolls down the mound of sand like he’s some kind of athlete, then pops back up to his feet. His fall dislodged even more sand. It’s pouring down, the whole ceiling collapsing.

“Run!” He yells, charging toward Cora and grabbing her hand while pulling a flashlight off his belt.

During a psychology class in undergrad, we learned about the four Fs: fight, flight, fawn, and freeze. I always thought I fell into the flight or fawn categories, but apparently I have never faced real danger. Turns out, I freeze.

I stand there gaping as stones start to fall from the ceiling, blocking out the light. The stranger runs past, dragging Cora with him. Roman’s right behind them, but I can’t move.

A meaty hand grips the neck of my shirt and spins me away from the avalanche, nearly throwing me forward.

“Here!” the strange man shouts, turning out of sight and taking the small light with him. Bear keeps his hand on my neck as we run, and it’s the only thing that keeps me grounded to the moment.

Once we turn, everyone stops, seemingly safe under a heavy archway. We’re all bent over, coughing from the plum of dust, catching our breath. The small light from the stranger’s flashlight is cast downward, illuminating nothing more than the stone floor, all the sunlight gone.

My breath comes in stuttered gasps.

“Everyone… okay?” Bear asks for the second time.

“Yes?” Cora answers like she isn’t sure. “But…” She pulls a penlight from the little bag strapped across her body and points it back the way we came. Wherever we are, there’s no chance of getting back out that way.

We’re trapped.

Bear asks the question that’s on everyone’s mind. “Where the fuck are we?”

“I…I think we’re in Lunara’s temple.” Cora looks around and grimaces. “I guess we found it. Yay?”

We all stare at her in shock, and she must feel the need to fill the silence because she keeps going. “And hey! We didn’t die! Yay for not dying!”

Roman snorts out a laugh, hanging his head and shaking it back and forth. “Thanks, girl scout. Hooray for not dying. Now what the fuck do we do?”

“Well, we really only have one choice.” The stranger speaks for the first time since he told us to run, and we all turn to look at him. He’s got his back to us, shining the flashlight away from the cave in, pointing toward what looks to be a long hallway. Torches line the walls at periodic intervals, interspersed with carvings I would love to study, but right now, I’m too busy taking in the new man before us.

The four of us from the dig site share looks between ourselves. None of us have ever seen this man before, and he smells… my sense of smell isn’t as strong as an alphas, but is that… black licorice?

Suddenly, Roman lunges, grabbing the new guy by the neck, and slamming him against the stone wall with a growl. “Who the fuck are you?!”