Page 35 of Starting a New Life

“Yeah,” Susie said. “It’s just… there was a commotion a couple of minutes ago, and I guess we’re all…”

“Curious,” Linda said, a wry smile on her lips.

“Nervous,” Lucas chimed in, a visible shiver running through him. “We haven’t used the cells for anyone in years.”

“It’s just a precaution,” I said, gripping Lucas’s shoulder to calm him down.

“Yeah,” someone else said. “Also, Rhett’s mate knows the mage. Apparently, they’re friends, so he can’t be that bad, right?”

Wait… what?

Levi knew that guy?

My wolf perked up at that information, giving me a meaningful look filled with judgment.

I sighed internally and made my way through the small crowd.

“I promise you’re all safe. Jasper and I are on our way downstairs to talk to the mage. Once we know more, we’ll talk to you, okay? If you want to stay, go to the dining room. I believe there are midnight snacks available for everyone.”

Of course, it was way past midnight.

A few wolves grumbled, while others seemed relieved.

And me? I was starting to feel like an idiot for having placed someone in our cells.

I’d been so fucking angry to find out that he’d come from within our pack lands that I… yeah, I’d kinda wanted to teach him a lesson. Maybe even scare him a little.

But by being petty, I’d scared my own pack when there was no reason to. I could just as well have put him in a room and placed a guard on his door.

I sighed as we headed down the stairs, the lingering scent of fear wafting over to me, making the hair on the back of my neck rise.

First and most pronounced was Rhett’s fear. Older. He was calmer now.

But the further down I got, the more intense a new scent got. Fear. Complete and utter terror wrapped itself around me, bitter and sour, but still oh so tempting, laced with the smell of rain, tinged with notes of a thunderstorm. Crackling electricity, lightning about to hit.

My steps quickened, my pulse speeding up, stomach churning, the desperation in the air making me want to puke.

I turned to my right, hurrying to the heavy metal door that divided the rest of the basement from our makeshift prison.

Inside, the scent hit me like a punch to the gut, almost making me keel over.

The cool freshness of rain, crackling electricity, and so much fear.

My eyes widened as I laid eyes on the figure cowering on the bench, pressed into the farthest corner of the cell, hiding his face behind his knees.

The sight of him was like a bucket of ice water emptied over my head and made me stop dead in my tracks as awareness slammed into me.

My mate.

He was my mate.

Our mage, my wolf confirmed, all smugness gone as he took in the shivering form on the other side of the bars. Comfort him.

I took a deep breath, the stench of fear and despair turning my stomach as I looked at my packmates who were waiting in the small hallway alongside which sat the three cells our pack had built centuries ago. They were seldom used, bare stone, without any amenities. Just a bare wooden bench mounted to the wall of each cell.

“Could you give us some room, please?” I asked. The five pack members waiting here had all been assigned to patrol duty tonight and had apparently taken over guard duty when we’d brought in the newcomer.

They all muttered varying affirmatives before leaving, until the only people left behind were Paul and Jasper next to me outside the cell, and Rhett and Levi inside the cell, with Rhett hovering close to the door and Levi sitting on the bench next to my mate.