“Grange, the pack is too beat up. We have to wait.” Blain argued calmly as the Grange paced the floor of Nickolai and Brie’s cabin.

One full day had passed since the Hunters had attacked. Since Ella had been taken and since Grange had nearly died changing the girl, Maggie.

Maggie was still asleep and fevered in the bed. Grange knew she would live but her body was fighting against the wolf and she needed time before she would awaken.

Dawn was nearly healed, a welcome side effect of being a nursing mother. It ramped up the healing of her body in an effort to protect the child. A child wasn’t safe if its mother was too wounded to fight off threats.

Grange was already nearly healed as well. He suspected it was his alpha blood that was healing him so quickly. He had noticed that he had been growing stronger.

Trig, Farrah and Brie were all uninjured. Anika’s arm was in a brace and the bones would need at least one more day to knit together. Blain’s leg was in need of another day or so as well. Nickolai had only had superficial wounds and they were gone, other than a few bruises that still lingered.

“We don’t have time to wait.” Grange growled. “They have Ella. They will kill her. I gave my word to Brendon that we she would be safe with the pack. We have to go after her.”

“Grange is right.” Dawn said as she stepped forward. “We have to save her.”

Grange growled and turned on her. “We aren’t doing anything. You are staying here.” Dawn glared at him.

“I will not.” she stated. “Brie is staying and I’m sure Farrah will as well. They can watch Creed. I am going with you.”

“And what will Creed eat?” Grange asked with a raise of his brow.

“Goats milk.” Dawn replied matter of factly. Grange wanted to argue with her. He wanted to tell her that she had to stay behind but he knew that would be pointless.

She wasn’t the fragile flower he had once thought she was. She was tough, she could handle herself in a fight and she would never let him ride off toward danger without coming along to watch his back.

“How are we going to find the compound?” Nickolai asked as he came out of the bedroom. Grange looked over his shoulder and saw Brie curled up in the bed, her arm wrapped around the restless girl.

“I know it’s west. In the mountains. Miles from everything.” Grange offered as he pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

“Ella said it would take Brendon close to a week to reach.” Farrah spoke up. She hadn’t taken her hands off of her stomach since the attack. It was as if she thought she could shield her unborn child from all the stress and danger around it.

“The way Brendon rides that means it would be a good week and a half at a regular pace.” he said with an irritated sigh.

“I know where it is.” Blain said stepping forward. “I’ve been there before.”

“You have?!” Anika asked with shock. Blain nodded, his dark eyes looking a bit haunted.

“Before I joined our pack as an adult, my parents were arrested by the council. I was with them, though I was only a child.” Blain had been looking at Anika while he spoke but now he looked away and stared hard at the wall. “The Council killed my parents in front of me, for crimes they did not commit, and then they released me to fend for myself….”

“So you can get us there?” Grange questioned. “After all this time you sure you remember how to get there?”

Blain nodded, his eyes clearly seeing memories of the past. “I’ll never forget.”

***

Ella was only faintly aware of flashes of light. Flashes of the scenery. Trees, rocks, men. She caught snippets of conversation. Random words.

“Killed girl.”

“Innocent.”

“Orders.”

“Following.”

Faintly, Ella was aware that they must be talking about Maggie. They had killed her? Ella tried to remember but whatever sedative was flowing through her blood was too strong.

Her body jarred and bounced along with the movements of the galloping horse beneath her. She was on her stomach across a pair of hard legs and her muscles ached.

The man she was lying on must have noticed her beginning to stir. He called out sharply and then without slowing he pressed something against Ella’s neck and she once again drifted off into unconsciousness.

Ella jerked back to consciousness when the horse stopped. She had no idea how long it had been. Judging by the thirst raging inside of her for blood, it had been days that she had been on this horse, laying across this mans legs.

Days since the pack had been attacked. Ella wondered if any of them were still alive.

Ella made a conscious effort to act as if she were still sleeping. She didn’t want any more of that sleeping potion stuck into her neck.

The sound of screeching metal reached her ears and then the horses began moving again. A gate maybe? She opened one eye just a crack and realized they were at a huge building made of stone and brick. Ella’s first thought was Faugrimm’s castle but after a deep breath to calm herself, she realized that wouldn’t be where she was.

This must be the Hunters Compound. Brendon’s prison.

The horse stopped again and Ella was lifted from the saddle. The thirst inside of her was nearly unbearable. It was like a living breathing creature swimming through her veins.

She was tossed over a shoulder and her aching body protested the rough treatment, though she was careful to make no sound. The world was coming back to her more every second. Her senses were shaking off the drug they had given to her and she was becoming more aware.

The sun disappeared and Ella knows she’s been carried inside a building. Her captors boots make noise each time they strike the rock floor and it reverberates and echoes around them.

“I’ve got a prisoner.” A voice rumbles close to her ear. He was asked for a number and rattles off a long stream of them. There is a grunt and then a rattling of keys and then they are on the move again.

Ella opens her eyes, knowing her captor and she are alone now and her eyes are behind him.

They were in a dungeon full of cells. Ella had flashbacks of her time spent with Faugrimm. This place was full of the same scents. Fear. Urine. Feces. Sweat. Pain.

Panic begins to well up inside of her as she sees the prisoners. Many look as if they’ve been here a long while. They are skinny, dirty, weak. Their clothing torn, they’re faces gaunt and they’re expressions nearly lifeless.

Ella could remember that too well. Not too long ago her expression had been the same. Before Brendon. Before Grange and his pack. Now all those things were gone.

The man carrying her stopped and Ella heard him fumbling with keys Rage, desperation, hunger. Those three things were all she could focus on but mostly it was the hunger.

A hiss left her lips and she felt the man holding her tense just before Ella turned and sunk her fangs deep into his neck.

She did nothing to help ease the pain he would feel as she drunk deeply, feeling his blood warming her insides and soothing the raging hunger inside of her. It was not nearly as sweet and fulfilling as Brendons but it would do. Strength flooded back to her and the soreness from the journey vanished.

Suddenly she was shoved away, tossed through the air. Ella laughed as she landed roughly on her backside and the man slammed the cell door shut, locking her in.

“You bitch!” he growled weakly. Ella could smell his pain, his weakness. She had taken most of his blood. If he were mortal he would be dead already.

Several cells around her exploded with applause and cries of victory as the Hunter fell to the ground. The guard that had asked for the number earlier came running into the hall and went quickly to the fallen Hunter.

Ella saw him pull a vial of liquid from his pocket and then he shoved the needle into the Hunters throat. Somehow Ella knew it was anti-venom and would save the Hunter’s life. That angered her.

The guard glared through the bars at her.

“You’ll pay for that.” he warned. Ella just smiled, her red hair falling across her face and warm liquid blood dripping from her fangs and rolling down her chin.

The guard looked afraid as he scooped the Hunter up and then left quickly, closing the heavy dungeon door behind him.

“Psst…” a voice called out beside her. Ella turned to see a skinny werewolf in the next cell. She was dirty and stunk terribly and the chains on her ankles and wrists rattled when she moved. “That was really dumb of you.”

“He killed my family.” Ella replied without guilt.

“He’s not the enemy. It’s not the Hunters that are bad. They are prisoners just like us, only they don’t wear chains. If you want to avenge your family then you need to get the Councilmen. They are the real murderers. Power corrupts all men and the Councilmen are no exception. Every day they get more evil, less.. human.”

Ella moved closer to the bars separating she and the werewolf.

“What are you here for?” she asked. The werewolf shook her head.

“I don’t remember.”

“How long have you been here?”

“Time seems to lose it’s meaning here… I couldn’t say how long it’s been.”

Ella understood completely. She had no idea how long she had been with Faugrimm or how long she had been Warren’s prisoner. Based on the math she had done from the time she had killed her parents to now it had been one hundred and fifty years. She understood completely how time lost its meaning when you were surrounded by stone, bars and pain.

“Have you seen a man here? Dark hair, green eyes, broad shoulders? A Hunter…”

“Hunter?” the werewolf asked curiously. Ella nodded.

“Yes. He would be a prisoner though…”

“They don’t put their own in prison… They are executed immediately if they are disloyal to the Council.”

Ella felt as if someone had just reached inside her body and torn her heart out of it. Despite knowing that Brendon was probably dead, Ella had still held onto the smallest sliver of hope that he was alive. That he would be here and together they would find a way to escape.

Ella moved to the far corner of her cage and pulled her knees up into her chin.

“Hey, are you okay?” the werewolf asked.

Ella didn’t cry. She didn’t say a word. Suddenly she was back in the cold bedroom at Warren’s home. Or back in her drafty cell in Faugrimm’s castle. There was no more pack. There was no more Brendon. There was no Maggie. All that existed was stone. Stone and bars. Next would come the pain. The hunger. The beatings. The rape. Better to turn herself off now. Better to welcome the numbness that had been her only friend for so long.

She was faintly aware of the wolf still trying to speak to her but finally the woman gave up and collapsed against the bars of her cell. Still Ella stared off into nothing.

She had once again lost her happiness. She would never make the mistake of thinking she deserved happiness again. Loving Ella was a death sentence to anyone who dared it.