Chapter 188
"Close the gate!" Hen screams out and in a second there is a flurry of activity.
"What? What? No, you can’t do that." Tempest turned to the woman.
"You aren’t in any place to tell me what I should and shouldn’t be doing." Hen sneered at Tempest.
"Look, I know you think you are doing the right thing, but if you close the doors it’ll only make things worse. At least if that’s who I think it is." Tempest was starting to panic.
She didn’t know if what she saw was Dron or any of the people from the stronghold but she did know that she and the rest had been in this settlement for too long without being able to check in with Mexyn. There was a great chance Mexyn had already rounded up the wagons. She’d need to find a way to make sure no one was hurt due to a misunderstanding.
"Where is my wrist device?" Tempest asked trying to get closer to Hen.
"It’s destroyed. We all know that the wrist device can be tracked. We already know the people in the strong hold know where we are, we don’t need everyone else knowing as well."
Tempest threw her hands up in frustration. This was getting her no where. She needed to get the doors open.
She raced down the mountain as fast as she could. She had to find Rynax. He’d know what to do to stop what was about to happen.
Tempest tumbled a few times. Her knees were shredded by the time she made it all the way down the hill.
The first person she ran into was Minnie.
"Hey, you have to tell me where my friends are!" Tempest rushed the woman.
"What? You know I can’t do that." Minnie shook her head and tried to walk away.
Tempest grabbed her arm and turned her back in her direction. "Look, I don’t know what you think you are doing here, but I promise you if those are my friends coming to the front gate, then nothing is going to stop them from getting in here."
"You would think that, wouldn’t you, but we’ve got more than enough resources here to hold those doors for weeks if not longer."
"Against humans! Against people like us. Not against an army of alphas deep in their primal state." Tempest was nearly shrieking at this time. She needed Minnie to hear her. Needed her to see the danger in all of this.
Minnie stared at her as if she were trying to figure out if Tempest was simply trying to scare her.
Tempest wished she was.
She’d seen what one alpha could do when he lost control. She’d seen Dron fight when he was angry. She’d watched him take hits that should’ve put anyone else on the ground and keep going as if he didn’t feel them. She’d watched Rynax fight more men than she could count and only go down because there were too many of them holding him at once.
She’d seen what the alphas could become.
The humans hadn’t.
That was the problem.
"You don’t understand what you’re dealing with," Tempest continued. "They heal faster than us. They’re stronger than us. Some of them are twice our size when they’re fully changed. You can’t treat this like some medieval siege where you just close the drawbridge and wait for everyone to get bored and go home."
Minnie pulled her arm out of Tempest’s grip. "And what do you expect us to do? Open the gates and invite them inside?"
"Yes!"
Minnie’s eyes widened.
Tempest groaned.
"No. Not like that. I mean talk to them. Find out what they want before everyone starts trying to kill each other."
"We know what they want."
"No, you don’t."
"They want the settlement."
"They probably want me!"
That finally made Minnie stop.
Tempest’s chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath.
"If Mexyn realized something was wrong, she would come looking for me. If she contacted Dron..." Tempest swallowed.
She didn’t even want to think about what Dron would do if Mexyn told him Tempest disappeared inside a hidden human settlement.
Actually, she knew exactly what he would do.
He would come.
There wouldn’t be a conversation.
There wouldn’t be a debate.
There probably wouldn’t even be a plan.
Dron would come.
And if there were hundreds of alphas behind him?
"Oh God."
Tempest put both hands over her face.
This was bad.
This was so incredibly bad.
"What?"
Tempest dropped her hands.
"I need Rynax."
"I already told you..."
"I don’t care what you already told me!" Tempest snapped. "If you don’t want to tell me where he is, then take me to him. You don’t even have to leave me alone with him. Bring ten guards. Bring twenty. Bring the whole damn settlement if that’s what makes you feel better, but I need to talk to him."
Minnie glanced toward the path leading deeper into the settlement.
Tempest saw it.
That tiny movement.
That was all she needed.
"They’re that way."
Minnie immediately looked back at her.
"I didn’t say that."
"You didn’t have to."
Tempest started walking.
"Wait!"
Tempest didn’t.
She pushed past two people carrying large containers and continued through the narrow pathway. She had no idea where she was going, but she knew she was heading in the right direction.
Minnie rushed after her.
"You can’t just walk around wherever you want!"
"Then show me where I’m going."
"You are the most frustrating person I’ve ever met."
"You haven’t met Dron."
Tempest kept moving.
Minnie caught up with her and grabbed her shoulder.
"Fine!"
Tempest stopped.
Minnie looked furious.
"Fine. I’ll take you to them, but you’re not going in there alone."
"Perfect."
"And if they try anything..."
"They won’t."
"You don’t know that."
"I do."
Minnie stared at her for another moment before turning and walking in the opposite direction.
Of course.
Tempest had been going the wrong way.
She hurried after her.
They cut between several buildings before moving into a quieter section of the settlement. Tempest immediately noticed there were more guards here.
That made sense.
If Hen didn’t trust Rynax, Gerax and Aliq, there was no way she would allow them to roam freely.
Tempest just hoped Rynax hadn’t gotten himself into trouble already.
Knowing him, that was probably asking too much.
Minnie stopped in front of a wide stone building.
Two armed humans stood outside.
"She needs to see the aliens."
One of the guards shook his head.
"Hen said..."
"I know what Hen said."
"So why are you bringing her here?"
"Because apparently there’s an army outside."
The guard’s expression changed.
Tempest didn’t wait for the rest of the conversation.
She pushed between them and went inside.
"Tempest!"
Minnie yelled after her.
Tempest ignored her.
The inside of the building was divided into several rooms. She looked through the first opening.
Empty.
The second held supplies.
The third had a bed.
The fourth had Rynax.
"Oh, thank God."
Rynax was sitting on the edge of a low bed with one leg stretched out in front of him. There were bandages wrapped around his side, his shoulder and one of his thighs. The cut above his eye was nearly healed, and most of the swelling Tempest remembered seeing had disappeared.
He looked significantly better.
More importantly, he was alive.
His head snapped in her direction.
"Tempest?"
She rushed into the room.
Rynax immediately stood.
He winced.
"Sit down."
"You came running in here looking as though someone is trying to murder you."
"No one’s trying to murder me."
"That is an improvement."
"Where are Gerax and Aliq?"
Rynax frowned.
"Why?"
"Because I need all three of you."
"That does not answer my question."
"There’s an army coming."
Rynax blinked.
Tempest watched the humor disappear from his face.
"What?"
"I saw them from the lookout. There are hundreds of them. Maybe more. Hen closed the gates."
Rynax’s face hardened. He had been locked in the room for a long while. He had no idea what was going on outside. If he knew what Tempest had saw he’d be desperate to get out of the room.
"Who is leading them?"
"I don’t know."
"Tempest."
"I couldn’t see!"
Rynax stepped closer. He was trying to calm her down but Tempest didn’t think she could be calmed. Not when she knew what was coming.
"Think."
"I am thinking!"
"Did you feel anything?"
Tempest stopped.
She knew exactly what he was asking.
She’d been so panicked after Hen ordered the gates closed that she hadn’t allowed herself to think about anything else.
Tempest closed her eyes.
Dron.
She reached for that strange place inside herself that had become so familiar.
The bond had been different since she entered the settlement.
Muted.
Not gone.
Just harder to feel.
She assumed it had something to do with whatever the humans were using to block the alpha’s ability to track what was going on in the settlement.
Now that she concentrated, though, there was something.
Warmth.
Pressure.
An anxious pulling in her chest.
Tempest’s eyes flew open.
"Oh shit."
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ETA --:--⏸ PAUSE■ STOP