Chapter 151
This was not what Tempest had expected at all.
Crilium and the rest of the men that he was with brought all of them into their stronghold. That’s exactly what Tempest would call it.
She’d thought they’d just popped out from the sides of the rocks, but the truth of the matter was they came from inside. Tempest was amazed by what she was seeing.
Crilium walked the lot of them to what looked like a normal rock on the side of the cliff. There was nothing that differentiated it from anything else around them, but when he placed his hand on the surface of it, there was a very slight glow, and the rock moved to the side.
Rynax was up in arms the second he saw the very long tunnel. He assured Tempest that he could see inside, but he still didn’t want to go inside. She basically had to beg him to be a little trusting.
It took them all but a minute to walk through the tunnel. When they got to the other side Tempest saw that it wasn’t just a few alphas there but what looked like a full blown army. Maybe a hundred strong.
There were practice battlefields. A medical tent. Blacksmith. It wasn’t the most technologically advanced settlement that she’d ever been through, but it was definitely better than what they had come from walking through the arid fields of Skoq.
"How long have you been here? This is amazing." Tempest questioned as Crilium continued to bring them on a tour of the area.
"This settlement has been here for a few double moon cycles. We’re still building it up, but when it’s finished, it should be one of the strongest in the land."
"Wow...just wow." Tempest nodded her head. She looked around and realized that though there were a lot of people in the area, there were no women.
"You all live here? I mean, don’t any of you have any families?"
"Some of the alphas have mates in the other settlements, but this settlement is strictly for the military."
"Is this the extent of your military?" Gerax questioned. It was a double edged sword. It could sound as if he were digging for information to bring back to Thraqe.
Crilium hesitated for a moment, looked at Mexyn before he looked back at Gerax. "There are others scattered around the land, but it’s one of the largest."
Gerax shrugged his shoulders and continued to look around. Tempest was surprised that he didn’t have his wrist device opened to take readings on his surroundings. It must be killing him not to.
"Well, I’m glad that we came across you." Tempest did her best to smooth over the interaction.
"I’m not sure Quintu will feel the same." Crilium huffed.
"Quintu?"
"The alpha you knocked out. I have to say, you are quite skilled in combat. It’s not very often that I’ve seen an omega with fighting prowess." Crilum spoke.
Tempest blushed a little, she didn’t think she was very good but she had been practicing every day. She had a lot to learn, but at least she didn’t feel completely helpless anymore.
"I’ve had a great teacher." Tempest looked over to Rynax and gave him a wink. He didn’t react. Instead, he was still looking around as if he were waiting for an attack.
"How has the medical tent held up? Have you all been using the techniques I taught when I was here last?" Mexyn asked. Crilium gently rubbed his hand down the side of her face, and Tempest swore that she melted a little.
"Of course, beautiful. We’ve managed to save many more than we would have otherwise." Crilium replied. "We can go check it out once I get you all settled and fed."
Mexyn shrugged her shoulders once, and there was a slight smirk on her face. Soon, Mexyn would have the chance to be on her own with Crilium. Tempest was sure that her friend would have a much better night than anyone else here.
"Thank you, so much for all your help. It’s been so hard out there, especially for me." Tempest sighed.
The stronghold was deep in the mountain. They were surrounded by cliffs so high it was impossible to see over them, but she could see straight up. The sky was beautiful, and now that they were having to look in every corner for danger, she could really appreciate the beauty around her.
"I just don’t understand how this place is here." Gerax huffed and spoke aloud. Everyone turned to look at him.
"What do you mean?" Tempest questioned.
"The high royals told us that there were nothing but savages here. That you all eat your dead. Praise the excrement that comes out of your body."
Tempest’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. That was the first she’d heard of that one.
"Of course they would say that. It gives them a reason to keep sending Thraqen soldiers over here for war. We might be farther away on the technological scale but we deserve to live just as you do." Crilium replied.
Tempest couldn’t agree more.
Crilium ushered them all into a small hut, it wasn’t much but there was a place for them to light a fire and there were a few bed rolls there. It would be comfortable enough for them to stay the night.
"You know what I don’t understand..." Crilium started, "If you are here for your fated mate, why hasn’t he come for you? Are you sure he’s here on Skoq?"
Tempest’s heart clenched in her chest. She felt the same way. She just couldn’t understand why Dron hadn’t tried to reach out to her. "He doesn’t know that I’m here. He still thinks that I’m on Thraqe."
"Why haven’t you reached out to him to let him know."
Tempest shook her head in exasperation, "Believe me, I tried. We still aren’t able to contact him. Mexyn said the topography makes it hard for a signal to get through."
"We will figure it out on our own." Rynax interjected before he grabbed hold of Tempest’s wrist and tried to pull her away.
"Wait, that doesn’t make sense. We have our own signal here on Skoq. If you both are here, there should be nothing blocking the signal from your communication device. Unless of course..." Crilium hesitated.
Tempest pulled her arm away from Rynax. She wanted to know what Crilium knew. "Unless what?"
"Unless, there was nothing connected to the communication device on the other end. Unless your mate has been extinguished."
The words were different but she knew what he meant. He was saying that Dron was already dead. Tempest knew that wasn’t the case. She could feel it in her soul. Her mate was still alive. In fact, she could feel that he was close. She just didn’t know where he was.
"No, he’s still alive. I just can’t reach him." She shrugged her shoulders.
"Have you checked the settings on your communication devices?" Crilium asked.
"Tempest, please. Let’s just drop this." Rynax spoke again, this time there was a bit of fear in his voice. It didn’t make sense to Tempest. She would have to deal with that later. Maybe she would teach him a thing or two about trust.
"I haven’t done anything to my communication device. If I’m quite honest with you, I don’t know much about it." Tempest answered.
"We haven’t changed any of the settings since we left Thraqe." Mexyn stepped closer to Crilium. "Do we have to update something in order for it to work here in Skoq?" She seemed genuinely intrigued.
"I’ve never heard of anyone having to do that." Gerax added.
"No, there’s nothing that you have to update unless the settings were changed. Once you get here it should automatically connect." Crilium replied. "Here let me take a look."
It all happened very quickly. Tempest moved closer to Crilium holding her wrist out for the man to check her device but in the background Rynax moved as far back as he could. Something was wrong.
Crilium quickly accessed her wrist device and scrolled through her settings.
"What in the world...?" Crilium whispered.
"What? What is it?" Tempest questioned.
"You have a block on your device. All communications have been rejected. Someone has changed the settings on your device so it’s in some sort of cloaking mode."
Cloaking mode?
As in no one would be able to find or communicate with them?
Tempest blinked a few times before her brain began to process what the man was telling her.
She knew that she didn’t do that herself. Then she remembered there was only one person she knew of that could hack the communicators so no one would know where they were.
He’d done it before.
The anger rose to a roiling boil inside of her as she slowly lifted her eyes so her gaze was pinned on Rynax.
He didn’t look up at her. He didn’t have to.
The guilt was painted all over his body.
Rynax did this.
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⏸ PAUSE■ STOP