Chapter 41

Voices closing in brought Ariel from her thoughts. She could hear laughter and jeers, along with painfilled groans. She slipped back through the door and pushed it closed, a ending the stairs quickly and ducking into the first cell. As she was settling into hiding under the bed, the door opened and she heard a body tumble down the stone steps. There was a round of laughter and another groan.

"Seems the old wolf couldn't keep his footing." A voice teased, work boots and camouflage pants coming into view. Ariel did not dare move closer to the edge of the bed she was hiding under. She needed to remain hidden.

"Leave him alone!" A familiar voice. One she knew well though had heard very little. A voice that made her skin prickles and her heart race. It was him, the wolf who plagued her thoughts.

The sound of someone being hit was followed by a pained groan from the man, Ariel tensing. They were hurting him. It took everything in her not to race out. She had no idea how many hunters were out there. She steeled herself against the sounds of the hunters dragging people through? Going to the next set of stairs and down. Scratching metal, slamming cell doors, yelling, cusring. It all echoes up the steps.

It was several minutes of feet passing back and forth before all was quiet once more, save for some soft sobbing seeming from the cells below.

Ariel had no way of knowing when or if the hunters were coming back, so she slid out from under the bed and down the hall. They didn't leave anyone behind to guard the wolves. This meant they didn't expect them to escape, and they didn't care if they did. Unease washed through Ariel as she crept down the steps.

The cells in both sides held half a dozen people each. No one seemed to pay her any attention as she walked passes them, stopping only once she got to the end, to her cell. It was empty. She turned and looked back toward the door, the moved to the cell next to her's.

"What happened?" She asked into the darkness of the cell, but no one responded, there was just quiet sobbing.

"What happened? How did the hunters get you?" She demanded, her voice louder.

"The rogue wolf?" She heard a weak voice. She knew it, but it was not the one she wanted. She tapped across and down the isle, spotting the dark skinned man leaning against the wall by bars.

"Of course you escaped." He chuckled bitterly. Ariel carefully composed her face.

"The food stopped. I was not about to starve down here." She explained, but he did not seem convinced, nor did he seem to care.

"How did the hunters catch you? I gave you the warnings. I told you they were coming." She growled, the man leveling a weary look on her.

"It was a surprise. A week ago an injured wolf showed up. We tried to help her but she died of silver poisoning. That night, the hunters showed up. We tried to fight, but they had wolvesbane in their blood and they let us kill them." He explained. Ariel clenched her jaw tightly. Of course they did.

"It was slow, but they took over each building, one by one. They used the children as leverage and forced the Alpha to submit. They then beheaded him and his Luna in front of the entire pack." There was a hard edge to his words. A sharp knife of pain that was ready to slice and tear. Once he was better, he would kill every hunter he could get his teeth on, she was sure of it.

"The Beta negotiated for our lives, but the hunters just took wolves away. We dont know what happened to the children

" He sounded defeated now, but Ariel was sure she knew.

"The closest hunter town. They will take the children there." She explained.

"Can you find them?" Anither voice she knew. She turned and came face to face with the father of the wolf with the beautiful voice.

"Yes. I know the smell of their poison filled blood." She replied. He nodded to this and after a few moments there were people at the front of the cells. They looked determined and eager.

"If you can get us out, those of us that can, will aid you." He said to her, Ariel nodding. She then set to working bars free, pointing out the weak spots or helping others find them. One of the wolves commented on how unsafe this level of the prison was and Ariel had to suppress a grin. If they had not let it fall into disrepair, they would not be able to get out.

It had to have taken hours to get the first cell broken to a point where some of the least injured could slip through. By that time, he was also awake. Him and his father were in heated discussion the entire time, but Ariel was far too busy to hear what they were talking about. Despite wanting nothing more than to just listen to him speak, she had to keep focused. As she was helping with the second cell his voice cut through her concentration.

"Ariel." He called to her, causing her to pause and suppress a shudder. She let go of the bar and turned toward him slowly. That was the first time someone had used her name since fleeing the hunter town. Since she had lost all of her friends and her entire world. No one here had used her name when addressing her. She blinked back her surprise and shifted closer to the cell she was in.

"I'm going to help you. I know the town and I can fight." He told her. She could see the displeased look on his father's face. She knew he and his father were important to the pack, but she did not know how. Still, they could use every able body they could get.

With a quick nod, she searched the bars for a way to get him out. It took a bit of searching in the flickering torch light, bit she was able to find a mostly rusted through bar. It was near the top and covered in a thick layer of moss. She grabbed onto the bar and hoisted herself up.

"Becareful." Came his voice as he stepped up to the bars. Ariel paid him no mind as she gripped the bar with both hands and braces her feet on the bars. She then began to pull, growling with the effort. She felt a subtle shift in the bar and she relaxed for a moment to catch her breath.

Out of her peripheral vision, she could see the tense expression on his face. His apprehension for her was a little off putting. She didn't know him and he didn't her, so his concern had her worried.

Take a few deep breaths, she braced herself again and began to push hard with her legs, pulling her antire body away from the bars as she held on as tightly as she could. Slipping was not an option, and neither was failing. This was her only course of action. If she could help this pack, they might finally let her go. She wouldn't have to be locked up any more. She missed the sky and the soft ground beneath her feet. She wanted out, but not at the cost of more lives.

There was a pop as the rusted metal finally gave out, and then she was falling.