Wild by Sara Fields

Chapter 7

Ivar

I followed the gentle swish of the Recruiter’s robes with the other soldiers. I glanced closely at the cadence of his stride, watching for any clue that would help me identify him should he ever take off his robes and mask. At this point though, that didn’t seem likely.

The halls were long as we descended into the temple. The marble tiles beneath my feet seemed extravagant, although everything in this place seemed to be. There was gold filigree laid into the walls in elaborate designs that suggested a connection to the gods in some form. Each hall seemed to be dedicated to a particular god or goddess or even multiple of them together. The closed doors were also carved with renditions of them too. There wasn’t a single detail that was overlooked, not even in the depths of the temple.

I found myself wondering how long this place had been here. It spoke to the times of old, maybe even before the time of the Great War so long ago. Was it even possible that this city had remained completely intact in such a harrowing piece of our history?

Upon deeper thought however, I realized that it may actually be possible for this temple to have survived without having been swallowed up in its clutches. The Crescent Mountains protected the city from much of the rest of the world and would have been fairly treacherous for a full army to surpass. Rosethorne could have come out entirely unscathed.

What kind of things could have survived the passing of time here? Had they prepared weapons of their own that could have changed the tides of war so long ago? If so, did they survive to this day?

The Recruiter walked through the halls of the temple as if he knew them like the back of his hand. Either he’d grown up here or spent some serious time within the walls during the course of his life. I narrowed my gaze in his direction, catching just the slightest roll to his gait. His right ankle was weaker than his left and occasionally, his hips popped out just a bit more in that direction. I only saw it once, but I filed it away in my memory should I ever need it again.

When we finally reached his chambers, he walked in like he’d been there before. He waved us inside and we placed down his things.

“One of you, stay by the door. The others can go,” he murmured. His voice carried a deep tone to it, as well as a harshness that indicated he’d enjoyed more than his fair share of cigars in his life. The other two soldiers looked reluctant to remain here, so I volunteered myself.

I adjusted the mask over my nose and took my place at the door, readying myself to stand guard for the rest of the night. He closed the door behind me, so I was left with just the sounds of him moving about inside for a short while before he came back out.

“Make sure no one goes inside,” he barked before he stormed off to the left. I watched him stride away and open a door down the hall. His boots clicked more quickly now, indicating that he was descending a flight of stairs. I would have to explore down there later.

I turned my head back and forth, observing the hallway. For a time, I just listened for any other signs of human life, but there were none. I reached behind me and tried the doorknob, finding it locked.

With practiced efficiency, I knelt and popped an extra lock kit from my wrist cuffs. In less than ten seconds, the lock opened, and I slipped inside. I’d have to be quick. I didn’t know when the cultist would return.

I searched his effects, looking for anything that would clue me in to his identify or his intentions here other than the sale of Revna. The thought of her made me pause for a moment, and I couldn’t help but think of the way her body writhed over my thighs, how her bottom reddened under my palm, and how my belt left her naughty backside welted and marked. I could have sworn her scent was all around me once more, tempting me to find her again and truly claim her once and for all.

I suppressed a growl, knowing that I couldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to her. My mission was to the Alpha Brotherhood. Not to an omega. Not now.

It wasn’t meant to be.

I took a deep breath, trying to ignore the way my chest shook with effort and my jaw tightened with unwelcome emotion. I needed to find a way to cut off my craving for the tiny omega with violet eyes. Quickly.

I focused on my search of the room, looking through everything he’d brought with him. There was a small journal I combed through, but it only seemed to be a record of the sales of omegas he’d been a part of, at least until the last few pages.

There seemed to be an ingredient list of some kind, but it was incomplete. I didn’t recognize much of it and could only guess that the items were plant material of some kind. There was nothing that said what it was for either. In case it was useful at some point, I quickly memorized the contents and placed the journal back where I found it.

I searched the rest of the room and found nothing of real consequence until I checked underneath the mattress of his bed. There I found a smaller black journal, but when I opened it, the pages were blank. I flipped through it, feeling as though I was missing something. I slipped my hands over the pages, feeling the impressions that typically were left behind from written messages, yet seeing none of the marks. There was a heavy feeling along with it and I vaguely wondered if it could be spelled, an ancient relic from times long ago that no one remembered.

Old world magic was so rare that it was thought to be a myth, something that was talked about in order to keep young children obedient and those of age scared of what may be. There had been no record of real magic in the world in a very long time, only false accusations in people who happened to like to live alone or were in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the wild, there were women who were quite adept at mixing potions and herbal brews meant to heal or poison, but they didn’t have any sort of real magical abilities.

The bindings were old and looked close to fraying. The pages had long since turned brown and taken on a burnt hue at the edges. I turned back to the first page and held it closer to my nose, sniffing cautiously at first. The aroma of campfires washed over me at first, hiding the weaker scents of flowers, fruits, and the hints of jasmine, ginger, and frankincense. Underneath all that was something else though, something darker, deeper, and dangerous.

It felt cold and metallic and then a harsh ringing sound bounced around in my head for a moment. It was the sound of a woman screaming in brutal agony.

Someone had died in the creation of this journal. The kind of sacrifice required to perform ancient black magic.

The kind of power granted by Odiyen, the god of death.

I swallowed heavily and pulled back, staring down at the pages with apprehension. A series of letters began to swirl to life on the pages and I stilled, watching as sentences came to life before my eyes.

Recruiter,

I am glad to hear of your progress. Odiyen smiles upon you, granting you favor in the days to come. After your mission is complete, send word and we will send assistance your way. The city of Rosethorne owes us a boon and if they do not pay the price we require, the Cult of the Blood Moon will destroy them. You have my word.

The Prophet

I shut the journal quickly and shoved it back into place. Once I was sure I’d searched every last inch of that room, I locked the door behind me and returned to my post. Not five minutes later, I heard the cultist race back up the stairs before I saw him come back out of the same door that I’d seen him enter not long ago.

His green eyes were cool and appraising as he looked over me. I nodded once in greeting, saying nothing in return. He pushed the key into the door and went back inside, probably to read the message in the journal that I’d already seen.

I wondered if it would disappear or if he had to do something to the pages to make the ink fade away into nothing. It was quite the useful tool to communicate over long distances, but if it ever fell into the wrong hands, or the right ones if they were mine, it could change the tides of battle.

It would give us an inside view to the Prophet’s plans in the most direct way possible.

I had to figure out a way to get my hands on it without him knowing I had it. With the book that detailed his omega sales records, I could mimic his writing. I could play the role of the Recruiter and bring the Alpha Brotherhood even closer to victory with it.

I’d need to find a way to end the Recruiter first. Sure, I could slip into his rooms and slit his throat, but then I wouldn’t know what he was planning. I needed to know what his real mission here was because it certainly had nothing to do with Revna anymore.

At least an hour or two passed before the cultist emerged once again. He headed back down the same set of stairs and another soldier finally came down to take my place. He’d brought a chair with him and I hid around the corner until the telltale sound of snoring filled the hallway. I slipped by him and followed in the direction that the Recruiter had gone earlier. The scent of his alpha was unique here and I was able to follow it quite a way until I reached what appeared to be the lowest level of the temple.

Down here, there were no windows or light, no indication of the time of day. There was a certain dampness to the air, enough to mask the scent of the cultist and make it far more difficult to follow his trail. The walls were smooth, seemingly carved right into the rock bed below the temple. If I looked closely enough in places, I could see the faded marks of a chisel whereas in others, it was smooth as if the rock had been cracked open like this on purpose.

I moved in silence, searching each room I came across quickly and efficiently. I found libraries full of ancient scrolls. I opened a few and found them to be full of scripture and prophecy, as well as a few accounts that hinted at times long lost, but I couldn’t be sure they were real or fictional renditions from someone who lived and died hundreds of years ago. I moved on and continued exploring the complex mix of passages to the best of my ability. Much of it was abandoned and as I worked my way through, I picked up the scent of the cultist once more.

I followed it deeper into the caverns, moving between the shadows of the lanterns that seemed to burn well into the night. I closed in on a long-forgotten passage and in the flickers of the light, I could see dusty footprints that looked just like the bottoms of the cultist’s boots. I flicked my gaze up and moved along the edges of the hallway, intending to keep my own prints in the shadow so that he couldn’t see them if he was trained to look for things like that. I moved along and a low grating sound met my ears. It seemed far away, but it was hard to tell in the depths of this place. The further I traveled, the more the hair on my arms stood on end and I picked up the pace as much as I could while still keeping as silent as possible. I finally approached a massive steel door that looked to be at least a foot thick. There was a lock on the door, but when I touched it, the lock opened as if it hadn’t been fully closed. I opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief when the hinges didn’t squeak to give away my position.

I edged forward inside and closed the door behind me, pocketing the lock for later. Suddenly, the overwhelming scent of several alphas hit me, and I froze. It caught me off guard because I hadn’t scented one other than the Recruiter since entering this city.

As cautiously as possible, I peered around the corner and sucked in a breath.

There was a line of steel cages and each one of them had a man inside it, but that wasn’t all. In front of each one of them was a small piece of fabric that smelled exactly like the woman I was trying to forget.

I licked my lips, suddenly awash in the enticing aroma of her slick and I struggled to hold myself back. There was something different about her fragrance now, more intoxicatingly addictive and at once, my cock was as hard as an iron spike.

The presence of so many alphas had me on high alert and a territorial possessiveness came over me immediately. They couldn’t have her. She was mine. I’d been the one to touch her first, the one to grant her the privilege of her first orgasm.

She was going into heat. She’d need an alpha’s cock and I wasn’t going to allow any of the monsters here to give it to her.

I would be that alpha.

I tried to breathe. I tried to keep my alpha under control, but it was soon a measure in futility. He raged inside me like a beast, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before he broke free and took what he wanted.

For as long as I could, I focused on the room around me, taking note of the fact that each alpha was locked inside their cage and the bars were too thick to break through. They rattled the bars, but the cages weren’t moving. They were solid. They weren’t getting out.

I drew in a deep breath and it caught in my throat.

A wail echoed in the distance and I knew at once it was her.

I’d always been a man who focused on my mission in the Brotherhood. I’d hidden out for years in the dungeons of Ravenrath waiting for Luna to appear. Then I could lead her out so she could do what she was meant to do.

But this…

I couldn’t ignore this.

She wailed again and this time, I could feel her pain and agony in the depths of my soul and there was no way I could turn away. My alpha wanted to run to her and comfort her, but most of all I wanted to give her what she so desperately needed. I wanted to take her pain away.

I turned away from the alphas in the room. All of them had turned on me and were snarling with malicious intent, but that didn’t matter. They were trapped behind bars and there wasn’t any way they were going to follow.

I chuckled, walking by them with a certain smugness that was impossible to contain. I funneled deeper and deeper into the caverns as her wails increased in intensity. My cock jolted with every last one. Right now, it was causing me physical pain to be separated from her and I needed to get to her as quickly as possible.

But then, she screamed my name and just when I thought I couldn’t get any harder, I did.

Maybe I was a monster, but when I found her, I was going to take her whether she wanted me to or not.