Page 82 of Tenebrous

“Benji.” Paula grabs my hand, but I don't look her way, all my attention focused on another section of stone that crumbles away. Shards of granite explode outward, slicing our skin. “Benji, they're bringing down the mountain.”

Terror roots me in place. Neither monster seems like they're trying to kill the other anymore, they're simply fighting just to fight. As though this is what they were born to do.

Another boulder slams down between them, forcing their bodies apart briefly before his father tears through the cloud of dust and throws himself at Orion again.

“Stop!” I scream, but neither of them even glances at me.

A thunderous crunch rolls through the mine, and my gaze flies upward in time to see the ceiling begin to sag. Another fissure splits through it, sending fist sized rocks raining down.

The ground lurches suddenly, throwing me sideways into Paula. She violently shoves me back right as a large portion of stone gives way directly above us.

“Benji!” she cries, but it's too late.

I twist around in time to see her eyes meet mine for one fraction of a second… before the entire ceiling comes down.

A slab the size of a pickup truck crashes into the spot where she'd been standing less than thirty seconds earlier. The impact detonates through the cavern, throwing dirt and shattered stone in every direction. It knocks me flat on my back, driving the air from my lungs.

“Paula!” I try to shout, but my voice disappears beneath the roar of collapsing earth. Dust engulfs me so completely that I can't see my own hands in front of me. Every breath burns my throat as I scramble unseeingly across the shifting ground, searching for support.

Large fingers suddenly grab my arm. I lash out on instinct before a familiar rumble cuts through the chaos. “Benjamin.”

Orion.

Relief floods my system so fast that my knees nearly buckle.

He wraps one arm around my waist and hauls me off the ground, coughing as he turns toward what I assume is the exit. I can't see it anymore. I can't see anything. The air has become a choking wall of pulverized rock.

When another crack shakes the foundation above, Orion's ears flatten. He tries to change direction when the floor quakes. A fresh avalanche crashes down somewhere to our left, close enough that shards of stone slice across my cheek, and my mate twists to shield me from chunks of rock that hammer against his back.

“No,” I shout. “You'll get hurt!”

He doesn't even acknowledge me, hell bent on getting us out of here.

A boulder slams into the ground directly in front of us, blocking whatever path he'd been taking. The impact throws both of us backward. I lose my grip on him, but Orion catches me before I can strike the ground.

A deep, ancient, disturbing groan seems to come from every direction at once. His head snaps upward, expression twisting, and when I follow his horrified gaze…

Any hope of survival completely flees my mind.

Thousands of tons of stone shift overhead, fractures racing through them like lightning. Orion’s golden eyes meet mine as his arms tighten to the point of pain around my body.

“I am sorry,” he breathes brokenly into my ear.

We barely manage three more steps before the entire mountain crashes down around us.

Chapter

Thirty

Orion

Rain falls in relentless sheets, soaking my fur until it clings to my skin. Mother keeps one arm around me while Father stands several paces away, breathing hard. His mangled face still frightens me, even after all this time.

"I've come to take you home," he growls.

“There is no home left,” Mother trembles. “Not with you.”

“I will make one.”