Accompanied By The Night

Prisoners shouted to be let free as the four of us marched up to the holding cell that was supposed to house Troy Redwolf. The man had spent so much of his time making me miserable. Less than a month before, he had been the alpha of the Kings. One of his first acts as alpha had been kidnapping and hurting Tavi and me. Mere minutes ago, we’d figured out that he might be behind the feral wolf attack that had devastated the Kings Pack. My pack. Night—though he was still recovering from the injuries he’d sustained from the silver bullet shot by Evan, the wolf I’d killed—led the way to Troy’s cell. He grabbed the door handle and yanked it open. A soft gasp slipped past Tavi’s lips. “f**k,” I muttered under my breath. The cell was empty, and the only indication that it had been used was Troy’s lingering stench. I clenched my fists at my sides, and my wolf began to snarl inside me. “The attack must have been a distraction,” Dom said, his voice little more than a growl. “He sacrificed so many lives just so he could escape.” Tavi’s voice was a whisper but was just as angry and alarmed as Dom’s. I couldn’t say anything more. Of course I was afraid. Of course, I was shocked. Of course, I was angry. But a fourth emotion coursed just as powerfully through my body: guilt. I was the alpha of the Kings, and yet I’d allowed the greatest threat to them escape while under my watch. I should have seen this coming. I should have done more. I had failed my people. As these emotions boiled inside me, four pairs of footsteps came rushing toward us down the path. These men were meant to be guarding the cells. The moment they neared, Dom grabbed one of them by the collar and lifted him off the ground. “You,” he growled, his eyes glowing like amber in the dark. “You let this happen.” “Wh-what? I—” The guard sent a baffled look from Dom to me before finally looking at the open cell. His eyes widened, and the color seeped out of his face. “Wait, hold on…” Night took a step forward, his eyes blazing green. The guards didn’t know that Night was still recovering from the silver bullet and couldn’t shift, but it didn’t matter. All they knew was that he was angry and could make them pay for it. I moved between Dom and Night, roiling emotions taking hold of me. “Why weren’t you four at your post?” I demanded. “Why didn’t you tell us Troy disappeared?” The guard began to babble. He couldn’t seem to form a coherent sentence with four enraged wolves staring at him, so one of the other guards stepped forward, his hands clasped tightly in front of his chest. “Please, Alpha,” he said. “We didn’t know! When the attack started, we left our posts to help the pack.” Behind him, the other guards nodded emphatically. “No one has ever broken out of the cells before. The walls are so thick, escape is supposed to be impossible! We were trying to make sure everyone was safe and didn’t even think to check on the prisoners.” Dom dropped the guard to his feet. He stumbled back against the wall. Fear seeped from the man’s pores, but that didn’t mean the guards weren’t involved in Troy’s escape. I wanted to believe their intentions had been good, if a bit misguided and shortsighted. But they would need to be questioned. “How many prisoners are here?” Night demanded. “We usually only have a handful,” the guard responded. “The cells are only supposed to be used when an outsider trespasses onto our territory. But with Troy, that number increased.” He gestured around us to the rock walls and torches. “This area is reserved for the most dangerous wolves. The cells are supposed to be impossible to break out of, and he wouldn’t be able to shift while inside.” I turned away from them. This conversation was getting us nowhere. “We need to start looking for Troy.” I looked at Tavi. “We need to send out a search party and drag him back here.” “Right,” she said. “I’ll put a party together,” Night said in a tight voice. He was so angry, his fists shook at his sides. I couldn’t tell if his anger was directed at our situation or if he had also realized it was my fault Troy had escaped. We left the holding facility with the guards in tow. Clear azure skies greeted us. It seemed wrong for the sun to shine so brightly on the day we discovered Troy missing. The elders, the council, and a few of the Kings’ top fighters and trackers had left the meeting room. It seemed they were on their way to meet with us, which was good timing. Night must have called his wolves because he and Dom separated from Tavi and me to speak to them. They were probably getting the search party together. While they took care of that, Tavi and I informed the elders and the others of the situation. “We were right,” I said. “Troy is gone.” A ripple of shock passed through them. Even Dana, the only female council member, was surprised enough to hold back her snide comments. “Those four guards were supposed to be watching the holding facility but weren’t at their posts. I want them questioned.” Theodore, one of the Kings’ top fighting wolves, nodded. Night had kept his son safe during the ferals’ attack, and that was enough to make him loyal to us. “I can make sure that happens, Alpha Hunter.” I stopped myself from shifting awkwardly on my feet. It still felt so strange to hear the word “Alpha” before my last name. I doubted I would ever get used to it, especially when I would only be alpha for a few more weeks. “Thank you, Theodore. I don’t want them harmed until we know for sure whether they were involved in Troy’s escape.” He nodded again. “I understand.” As he and his men took the guards to be questioned, I addressed those who remained. “Finding Troy must be our priority, and we need to find more information on the ferals and why they’re working for him. Some of you mentioned that there are banished wolves who might not be as insane as a typical feral. Do we have any records of those wolves? Any records of the wolves that have been banished from our pack?” “Of course we keep records of that,” Elder Queene said, his wavy dark hair lifting in the breeze. “But we have no idea if they became feral. After all, they might have been accepted into another pack after banishment.” His voice was a low monotone, his expression grave. “Well, I’m willing to bet that at least some of them were within the feral pack,” I said, crossing my arms. “Why else would they have helped Troy escape?” Harlon and Samson were both deeply loyal to Troy. They had arranged for the ferals to do what they wanted, and I was positive they were working under Troy’s orders. Elder Queene inclined his head, accepting my point. “If we track down those who’ve been banished, we might be able to find leverage to get them on our side. If we do that, they might tell us more about what Troy’s planning. The sooner we do that, the sooner we’ll be able to find Troy.” “We will look for them, Alpha Hunter.” Despite those words, the elders’ lingering looks told me they still doubted doing so would do any good. I could hardly blame them. So far, my ruling had only resulted in an attack on the pack and Troy’s escape. According to the guards, Troy was the first escapee in the pack’s history. I was sure that looked great on my record. “It wasn’t your fault, Bryn,” Tavi said as we left to join Night and Dom. “You couldn’t have known Troy would escape.”