The Myth of the Wolves

Chapter Three: Empty Mines

Damius opened the front door to the mines, inserting a key from a keychain in his back pocket. He casually walked through the reception to the mineshaft. The place was completely empty.

Halo followed close behind, his scent overwhelming her when they closed the mineshaft door. Every time she would glance at him, he had a very serious expression; she could see his watchful gaze darting around, but now that they were alone in the mineshaft he leaned back and took her in.

“From here on out,” he warned, “speaking needs to be kept at a minimum. Once we reach the Sector G tunnels, we will have to travel in complete darkness for several miles. We could be in there for a couple days, depending on if we come across anyone else. These tunnels are rarely used, and not many people know about them. Anyone who does cannot be trusted.”

“Will we need to take oxygen?”

“Not at this level, no. We will be fine, although the air will be thin. Breathe deeply and slowly. Keep your heart rate low, at least for the first couple of miles.”

Halo wondered how that would be possible when she had to travel so close to him. He seemed to read her thoughts and grinned to himself.

He pulled out his keys again, inserted it, and he opened a secret compartment behind the elevator buttons. There were five hidden buttons, and he pushed the second one.

“Where did you get those keys?” Halo was starting to worry about who her companion was.

He looked uncomfortable as the shaft began to move, shoving the key into his back pocket. “Let’s just say I found it.”

Halo grew quiet, unsure of what that meant. Did he hurt someone? She knew everyone who lived here, and she did not want to think about who could have possibly been hurt or even killed.

Looking closer at Damius, Halo could tell he was tired. He hid it well, but his unkempt hair and tired-looking green eyes gave him away. He leaned against the elevator wall, his arms crossed over his chest, and he just looked so run-down. They still had a long journey ahead of them, and Halo’s heart clenched.

The elevator dinged and they exited into Sector G, Damius leading the way.

Right outside the elevator was a long hallway that seemed to stretch forever. There were lights that lit up the hallway, some flickered in a way that gave her a headache. The floors and walls were all stone, but they were perfectly carved. Every little noise seemed to echo for miles ahead of them. There were numerous numbered doors on both sides, and Damius made them crouch under the small windows to avoid being seen.

They walked for about five minutes, Damius in complete silence. Halo knew he would cringe every time she made a noise. Eventually, he made her take off her shoes, silently pointing to them and motioning her to remove them. It seemed to help a lot, but she obviously still wasn’t completely silent in her movements.

Eventually, they reached a door numbered “301.” Damius stopped, took out his keys again, and he opened it. They both entered the room, keeping the lights switched off.

Halo felt Damius’s warm hand clasp hers, guiding her through the room. Her heat was almost out of control, so she had to pull her hand back from his grasp and breathe heavily. He stopped and waited for her. She swore she heard him growl lightly and felt him tense beside her.

Damius gritted his teeth and reached out for her hand again. He had to get them through this, and then he could touch her how they both craved. He would give anything to lift her up against the wall beside them, but he wouldn’t give up her safety.

Although Halo wanted to stop several times, clearly struggling with her heat, Damius dragged her forward. This was not a safe place to stop. He would carry her if he had to, even though the scent of her arousal was driving him insane.

After entering several more doors, they finally reached the last one before the cave turned into a complex system of natural tunnels that eventually led outside. This was the most secretive and convoluted way to enter and exit the underground city, but it was also the safest.

As soon as they entered the natural tunnels, Halo could smell the must of old water and moss. It also smelled like something had recently died nearby. She released Damius’s hand, attempting to control her heat. There was a single light outside the door they had just exited.

Damius walked ahead of her, treading slowly enough for her to easily keep up. He seemed to be very thoughtful of her comfort, and she was thankful for that.

Soon enough, they were far away from the one light source, and Halo had to reach out to grab Damius’s hand.

Damius smiled when he felt her hand snake into his.

She felt a sense of safety when holding his hand.

They walked for several miles before Halo started to limp. She was in great shape because of her mining job, but she was also in constant pain because she was so overworked. Still, she pushed through the burning pain in her ankles until Damius noticed.

Damius stopped, his mouth close to her ear, and he whispered, “climb on my back.” He crouched down, ready to carry her.

Halo shook her head, and then realized he couldn’t see her. Her face turned red. “I can’t do that.”

He didn’t speak, and she realized she had been too loud. Her face turned even redder. He ignored her and continued to wait for her to jump onto his back. She went to walk past him, but he grabbed her wrist to stop her, adamant about his decision.

She sighed, resigned to being carried, even though she knew it would be even more torturous.

She climbed onto his back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, careful not to strangle him. He grabbed hold of her legs and stood, forcing her to be pressed tightly against his back with her most intimate parts. Her body heated up, and she heard him take a sharp intake of breath before walking.

She hoped that her heat would dissipate over time, but her n*****s rubbing against his hard back only made her ache more.

She cried silently against the back of his shoulder. She was beyond frustrated. What was wrong with her.

Damius stiffened when he felt her breathing change, and he whispered softly, “I promise this is normal. It will go away in a couple of days on its own.”

She hiccupped and whispered back, “is there a way to make it go away sooner?”

“Yes,” he answered, “but you aren’t ready for that yet, and this certainly isn’t the place for it.”

She sighed in frustration and rested her head on his shoulder as he walked them at a fast pace down the tunnel system, a lot faster than they had been going when she was walking. He seemed to know where he was going, and Halo could see him stopping every now and then to smell the air. She couldn’t see her hand in front of her face, but he seemed to be able to see perfectly fine in the dark.

They walked for what felt like days when, finally, Damius stopped. “We are about halfway,” he whispered. “This part of the cave is a little wider. Let’s rest here for a few hours, eat some food, and then we can continue.”

Knowing she had to keep quiet, she let her many questions die in her throat. She climbed down from Damius’s back and allowed him to take her to what felt like a large flat rock against the cave wall. She heard him setting something down on the ground, and felt him grab her, pulling her between his legs, facing away from him. Her heat seemed to die down at this point with her exhaustion, and his chest felt comfy enough for her to get some rest.

She woke up from a dreamless sleep to Damius’s hand over her mouth, shaking her lightly. She knew instantly something was wrong. She had to stay quiet. She tapped his leg to let him know she understood, and he released her mouth.

Damius had his arm wrapped tightly against her belly, protectively holding her against him. His calm breathing settled her down and allowed her to breath much more quietly. He felt perfectly solid, almost as if she was being pulled against a very warm wall.

She wasn’t sure what they were waiting for, but eventually she heard footsteps approaching them. She couldn’t make out how many there were, but she was sure there were at least two people.

The footsteps stopped in front of them, and the silence spanned for several seconds before one of them called out, “I can smell you.”

Damius stood, moving Halo behind him. “I don’t want to fight, but I will if I have to.”

Halo could feel dominance and strength rolling off them. The first passerby spoke. “We will be on our way.”

The second passerby clicked his tongue. “It has been a while since we’ve seen a she-wolf this far north.” He stepped a little closer.

Damius growled aggressively, and that seemed to stop him in his tracks.

The man laughed, “I’m just joking. Anyway, we will be on our way peacefully, and you can be on yours.”

If Halo wasn’t there behind him, Damius would rip both their heads off without a second thought. What was happening to him? He suddenly cared what someone thought of him.

The two men continued down the path, Damius waiting for more than an hour before speaking. “They will be trying to follow us. Stay close.”

After eating something that Damius called “trail mix”, they packed up and continued on, Halo walking again, but she kept his hand tight, and they walked as close together as they could without tripping.

She whispered impossibly quietly to Damius when she started to feel safer. “They called me a she-wolf.”

“That’s because that is what you are, despite your pack being away from the moon’s power for hundreds of years.”

Halo wasn’t sure if she should be laughing or if she should be concerned about these people taking the Wolf Myth stories too seriously. What if this man didn’t know where they were going? What if he was leading her to his cult?

Halo grew uneasy, but she had no choice but to continue following Damius. Regardless of her worries, she did feel safe around him, and she contemplated whether that was a feeling she should trust or if she was being naïve.

After about a mile, Halo’s ankles were beginning to burn again. Damius silently crouched down, and she reluctantly climbed onto his back, gasping at the heat that enveloped her the second her n*****s rubbed against him.

He stood and continued as she guiltily rested her cheek against his shoulder. She drifted off into a peaceful sleep, lulled by the dark, the sense of safety she felt, and the rhythm of his steps.

When she woke up next, the tunnels seemed to have a very faint light to them. She gasped and whispered, “are we almost there?”

“Just about,” he replied. “We made amazing time, but I also ran most of the way to try and lose those three idiots.”

“Three? I thought there were two?”

“One of them stood back and stayed quiet, but there were definitely three of them.”

“What if they catch up to us?” Halo shivered.

“Don’t worry about it. Trust me, I can take care of them easily.” Damius laughed coldly. “I’m honestly surprised they are trying this. They must be desperate.”

Not even a second later, they exited a tunnel into a cave. Halo noticed the end of the cave was exceptionally bright, and she shielded her eyes as the light was blinding after being in the dark for so long.

Damius let her off his back and turned to her, blocking her sight from the light.

“I know this may be very shocking at first, Halo, but we don’t have much time to process any emotions you may feel. I will be carrying you on my back until you feel you are okay to walk on your own.” He looked at her with extreme concern in his eyes.

“I’m not sure what emotions you’re talking about,” she began, but Damius moved aside, allowing her to see behind him. What she saw had her jaw on the floor. He held her arm tight, ready for her to collapse.

She had no words, and her mind even less so.

In front of her was a brightly lit up cave. The opening of the cave was shrouded in a mixture of trees and bushes, but beyond that was a bright endless blue expansion that contained white fluffy shapes scattered across it.

“That’s the sky, and those are clouds,” Damius pointed out, speaking gently. His grip was still tightly on her when she walked forward toward the opening of the cave. He followed, allowing her to take it all in. “That is the sun,” he said as he pointed to an impossibly bright yellow circle in the sky.

She squinted as she tried to make out all the shapes around her. She couldn’t believe the amount of space there was above the trees. As she got closer to the mouth of the cave, cold white flakes were falling onto her and instantly melting on her skin. She held out her hand and watched as this happened.

“That’s snow,” Damius explained, “we are expected to get a lot of snowfall soon.”

Still unable to speak, she just stared at the vision in front of her. Damius took that cue to kneel and ask her to climb aboard.

Damius internally laughed at the image of an alpha kneeling to anyone, but he would do anything for her, as he already had.

Halo mutely climbed onto his back, noticing her heat had subsided considerably since the first day she felt it.

Damius trekked through the cave’s mouth and headed straight to the forest. He would have to find them shelter for the night before trying to figure out where he was going to take her. He certainly couldn’t take her home. It was anything but safe for her in his pack right now, and it was probably no longer safe for him. He would make it safe soon enough though.

The Camp.

Damius had planned on finding a cave of some sort, but with the dropping temperature and the humidity, he wasn’t sure it was safe for Halo. Halo had been quiet, and he was concerned about her, so he made the decision to stop by one of his pack’s scouting camps, hoping word had not gotten to them yet that he had basically gone rogue.

He explained his plan to stop by a camp with people he knew to Halo, but she was barely paying attention, lost in her own thoughts.

When they reached his camp, his men looked at him in surprise. They weren’t expecting him for several weeks yet.

His Gamma, Bryce, greeted him with a broad smile. “Damius, to what do we owe the pleasure?” Bryce was a large man. He resembled a teddy bear, with his light brown fuzzy beard and hair. He had jolly-looking light brown eyes that seemed to be stuck in a permanent smile.

“Bryce,” he nodded in greeting, “I am here to make camp for the night. We were followed by three rogues, but I do not expect them to show their faces while we are here.”

Bryce looked questioningly at Halo, who was still basically catatonic.

“This is Halo, and we will be sharing a tent tonight.” Damius didn’t like the idea of Halo sleeping alone surrounded by twenty or so warriors, most of whom were unmated.

Bryce nodded in understanding, and Damius carried Halo to the alpha tent in the middle of the camp, dropping her down carefully onto the cot.

Halo looked up at him. She looked fragile. Everything she had ever known was a lie. There was this seemingly endless world, and her people were kept in a dingy cave, working themselves, quite literally, to the bone.

She took a deep breath and shook herself.

“I’ll find you something warm to drink, and then we can eat by the fire later if you’re up to it. Otherwise, we can eat in here,” Damius informed her. “I’ll announce myself before I enter. You can wash up and change while I’m gone. I must speak to a few people.”

Halo nodded, and Damius left.

Halo felt safer inside the tent than she did outside. She wasn’t used to not having a ceiling of some sort, and she felt like she would fall into the sky at any point. Now that Damius had released her, she felt like nothing was tying her to the ground.

She sighed and got up to wash in a basin of water close by, pulling out her soap and toothbrush.

Outside, Damius ordered a warrior, Ezra, that he trusted with his life, to keep guard outside his tent. Ezra was a tall, slender, and powerful warrior with dark hair and dark eyes. He was a deadly assassin.

Damius had called a meeting at the camp. He wanted to explain the situation before his father got to them. He hoped that if he couldn’t get them on his side, that he could at least stop them from turning on him if they were still there when word arrived.

“Bryce,” he called out, authority in his voice.

Bryce appeared quickly in front of him. “Yes, alpha?”

“Gather the men. We have a lot to discuss.”