I looked around the cavern, but there was nothing I could use as a weapon against the animals. Maybe Rhett was right. If phasing was the only chance we had to defend ourselves, at least we would go out fighting.

  I reached for the wolf side of me and was about to phase when the biggest bear lunged at Rhett. Given his size and proximity, I was about to see the werewolf be torn in half.

  “No!” I shouted and pushed at the same time.

  It felt as though the seconds slowed. The bear paused with its jaws open and claws raised, Rhett slid to a stop in front of the other bears, and the last bear behind him turned and gave me its full attention. For that instant, every creature in the room waited for me to act.

  A tremor ran over my skin. I sucked in a breath. My hands were up. I couldn’t remember when I had lifted them. My fingers tingled the way they did when I pushed memories at someone. Only instead of memories, I had pushed a command.

  I swallowed and said, “Back up.” I pushed the thought along with speaking it, sending the bears an image of backing away from Rhett.

  Rhett also backed up and almost tripped over the biggest bear.

  “Not you, Rhett,” I said.

  He stopped, his expression confused. The bears also stopped. I felt the intense stares of each of them.

  “Rhett, come here,” I said as I pushed, “Bears, stay.”

  I could only stare as Rhett obeyed and the bears didn’t move. Relief filled me when Rhett was far enough away to not be eaten.

  He reached my side and then stared back at the bears. “What did you do?”

  “I don’t know,” I replied honestly.

  Rhett’s eyes widened. “Finn, you compelled me. I had to do what you said.”

  “What are you taking about?” I replied, still trying to get my mind around what was going on.

  “Finn,” Rhett said breathlessly, “You’re an Alpha!”

  The bears ambled closer. I only had to hold out a hand and say, “Stay,” for them to stop.

  “They listen to me because I’m an Alpha?” I asked.

  “I guess so,” Rhett replied. “I’ve never met an Alpha before. I don’t know what you can do.”

  “There’s only one way to find out,” I replied.

  I walked toward the bears. When one opened its mouth, I pushed an image of what I wanted it to do. The biggest bear closed his mouth, watched me for a moment, then lowered to the ground. The other bears did the same. With my heart pounding so loud I was sure the spectators could hear it through the cameras, I stretched out my hand toward the closest bear.

  Projecting images of calm, I set a hand on the bear’s wide forehead. It merely watched me, its breathing steady and the look in its eyes more curious now than angry. Under my touch, the bear’s eyes closed. After a moment, it turned its chin up so I could scratch beneath it. A smile spread across my face at the satisfied grunt the bear gave when I took my hand away.

  “That’s incredible,” Rhett breathed.

  He walked quietly up behind me and stretched out his own hand. The bear snapped his fingers.

  He scooted back behind me. “Okay, uh, well, we know it’s not me,” he said. “You just, uh, keep them calm while we find a way out of here.”

  An idea struck me. I had no clue if it would work, but given the thickness of the metal door we had walked through, they could just starve us to death along with the bears. I wouldn’t put it past Meg.

  I projected calmness toward the bears and Rhett. The werewolf’s nervousness around the animals was likely to set them off again. Each of the bears settled quietly on the ground with its eyes on me. I watched them out of the corner of my eye when I turned to face the camera.

  “What are you doing?” Rhett asked from behind me.

  “Everyone is watching us, right?”

  “Yes,” he replied. Bitterness showed in his voice when he said, “They’re waiting to see us get eaten.”

  “Not if I can help it,” I replied. I chose a camera and glared at it. Pushing with all of my might, I said, “You will unlock this door and let us out.”

  “Is that going to work?” Rhett asked.

  I ignored him and lifted my hand. Pushing the command down my fingers the same way I sent memories, I repeated, “You will unlock this door and let us out.”

  Rhett and I turned our attention to the door. After a few minutes, the werewolf’s shoulders slumped. One of the bears rose to its feet. I was about to face them again when a sound outside the door made me jerk back around.

  “It’s opening,” Rhett whispered as if saying the words louder would jinx it.

  I wondered who my compulsion had worked on. Expecting to see one or two werewolves, my heart leaped into my throat when the door was flung wide to reveal werewolves packed down either side of the hallway so thick there was barely standing room.

  Rhett’s wide gaze turned to me. “They. All. Listened.”

  I felt as if I was living a dream when I made my way to the door and the werewolves parted without a word.

  Stix cleared his throat and then lowered his gaze when I looked at him.

  “What about the bears, um, Sir?”

  The title caught me by surprise. I fought back the edge of manic laughter that threatened to undo everything I had accomplished. A glance behind me showed that the four bears had followed close behind Rhett. When they poked their heads out of the cavern, the werewolves quickly fell back.

  “Lock them inside,” someone suggested.

  “No,” I said louder than was necessary. I had been in too many cages to turn my back when other creatures were suffering. I put my hand on the biggest bear’s head. “They’re coming with me.”

  Everyone fell back at my pushed order. My heart hammered in my throat and the voice in the back of my mind warning that everything could turn on me in a second. I willed my breathing to slow and turned to walk up the hallway with one hand on the massive bear’s head and Rhett on my left side. The sound of the other bears’ shuffling footsteps were followed after a respectful distance by the hundreds of werewolves.

  “This is amazing,” Rhett whispered.

  I couldn’t have agreed more, but I didn’t dare to admit it. It felt as though I kept control by a tenuous thread that would snap if I lowered my guard for one second. Strangely enough, I felt safer with the bears than with the adult werewolves who walked around us with brands on their forearms that matched my own.

  The realization that Meg hadn’t been with the group that released us from the cavern hit me as soon as we stepped out of the tunnel and into the open arena. Meg waited with twelve armed werewolves on either side of her. The guns they pointed directly at me were no joke, and each guard had his or her finger on the trigger just waiting for Meg’s command.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked.

  I ignored her and focused my attention on the guards standing on her right side.

  “Lower your weapons,” I said with a push.

  The guards immediately obeyed.

  “What are you doing?” Meg demanded.

  I turned my attention to the guards on her left. “Lower your weapons.”

  “Don’t you dare!” Meg said with an edge of panic in her voice.

  The guards did as I commanded without even looking at her.

  “If Meg goes for her guns, shoot her,” I commanded.

  Every guard turned to face Meg.

  Meg looked at me. “What’s going on here?” she demanded.

  I stepped forward. The bears and Rhett followed, but I stopped them with a gesture. I continued toward Meg alone. Her hands twitched near her holsters, but she knew better than to draw.

  I stopped about two feet from her. “Meg, I understand the hard work you have put into this place. You built a Den where werewolves could be safe and protected from the dangers of the world.”

  She opened her mouth, but I cut her off with a shake of my head.

  “But the problem with the kind of power you’ve gained here is that it’s easy to keep too much control for the sake of control instead of for the sake of keeping your pack safe.”

  Meg shook her head. “I did this to protect them.”

  My voice was calm when I replied, “Meg, you killed children on the pretense of doing so for the good of the Pack.”

  Meg sputtered. “But I didn’t! We need our werewolves to be strong.”

  “But not strong enough, right?” I replied.

  Meg stared at me. “What does that mean?”

  I watched her closely. “You know exactly what I mean. If one of your young werewolves starts to show signs of being an Alpha or commanding the respect of the other werewolves, you set him or her up to fail.” I motioned in the direction of the Gauntlet. “No one is supposed to survive this new and improved Gauntlet, are they?”

  I heard the werewolves surrounding us, waiting for Meg’s answer.

  “Of course they are,” she began.

  I shook my head. “I was out there, Meg. The odds of survival without assistance was impossible.” I glanced back at Rhett. “Rhett might have been able to save Lunera on the wall, but he couldn’t because he knew it would break the rules, and now she’s dead.” The guilt in the boy’s eyes was enough of an admission of truth for me to continue with, “And who knows? Maybe if Durnin had been able to have help or followed one of us through the tunnel of saws, he might be here with us right now.” A sob from someone within the crowd said that he was mourned. “And when I saved Rhett’s life, you shot his father and then threw us in with the bears.”

  I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “What good is being a werewolf if we can’t rely on our pack? Isn’t that what you teach here? Isn’t that the point of the Den, so that werewolves can have each other’s backs to protect? Then why isn’t it allowed in the Gauntlet?” I met her gaze with a glare. “It’s because you’re afraid of those who show leadership abilities. You’re afraid they’ll take over the Den and be a better leader than you are.” She opened her mouth to argue, but I cut her off with, “You preach about hierarchy, but you’re afraid to follow.”

  I looked around us and met the gaze of every werewolf I could. I lifted my hands to push when I said, “From now on, no one is to follow Meg’s rules or her commands. The Den can still be a place of safety, but it is not a dictatorship. You run your own families and see to their safety.”

  I met the gazes of several of the teenagers who had come to the cage. “As for your youth,” I said with another push, “Those who are ready to break free of the laws and iron fist under which they’ve been governed will come with me to The Remus Academy for Integral Education where they will be welcomed as students.” Several adults began to protest, but I raised a hand. “Parents are welcome to stay in contact with their children and can visit them if their children so wish.” I looked around with steel in my glare. “But none of you can stop those who choose to leave the Den of their own free will.”

  I met Meg’s astonished gaze. “Being weak physically shouldn’t be a crime,” I told her. “Everyone here has something to offer. At the Academy, your youth will have a chance to find their own path in this world that isn’t dictated by the fear of failure. A pack should be made up of members with strengths in a variety of ways, not just physically. Compassion, intelligence, tenacity, book smarts, street smarts, and positivity all have their place in this world. It’s time you realize that you can’t shape your children; instead, you should respect the shape they give themselves.”

  “But will they come back?” a woman asked. Her hand rested protectively on the shoulder of the boy in front of her. An old bruise marked his cheek. I had seen enough of the Den to know that corporal punishment was the method of choice.

  “They’ll come back when they choose,” I replied, my voice level. “But when they do, I suggest working out a new way to communicate rather than violence.”

  “We’re going with him!” a girl whispered from behind me.

  “We get to leave!” another said.

  A boy of about ten near Meg grabbed the hand of the girl next to him who appeared to be his sister. “We’re going,” he said.

  She nodded with excitement in her eyes.

  I lifted my voice. “Anyone who wants to go with me to the Academy has ten minutes to gather your belongings and say your goodbyes. I will meet you at the exit to the Den at that time.” I met the gaze of two of the werewolves with guns. “Bring food for the bears. They deserve to be fed.”

  Teenagers hurried from the crowd. Their parents trailed after them. Several argued with their children or pleaded for them to stay, but I wasn’t surprised at those who rushed to get away. They had just seen several of the youth they no doubt looked up to be brutally slaughtered in the Gauntlet. The fact that they had lived their entire lives with the knowledge that they, too, would follow in their friends’ footsteps must have been a heavy burden to carry. It was time that they were introduced to a world where there was a place for their strengths as well as weaknesses.

  I met Meg’s gaze again. The anger and defiance on her face was unmistakable. I knew only the fact that her own guards were ready to shoot her kept her from drawing her guns.

  “I should throw you to the bears,” I told her. “No creature should live in such conditions.”

  The biggest bear nudged his nose under my arm. I ran my hand across his massive head. “But they’re coming with me.” Thoughts of the forest through one of the Academy doors made me smile. “I know the perfect place for them.” I took a steeling breath and gave one last push as I spoke to Meg. “You will remain here at the Den and strive to make up for the children whose lives you cut short at the Gauntlet. The cage is no longer a place of punishment and will be destroyed. Whipping is abolished, and the werewolves here will choose their own leaders through a yearly vote with the focus on the good of the Pack.” Werewolves nodded around me. “Meg, power has turned you into someone who is cruel and unfeeling. Because of that, your job is to dismantle the Gauntlet completely.”@

  “But it’s part of my life’s work,” she began.

  I held her gaze and pushed, “You will dismantle the Gauntlet.”

  Her mouth closed and she nodded.

  I held out my hand. “Give me your cellphone.”

  She pulled it from her pocket and handed it to me.

  I turned away without another word and headed for the room where Vicken was being kept. Thoughts of my friend made me walk faster until I was nearly running. At the sounds that followed, I glanced back to see that the bears and a majority of the werewolves were also behind me. I ran through the halls Kiyah had shown me and slowed only when I reached the locked door.

  “Open it,” I told Stix.

  He fumbled through his keys, then unlocked the door and pushed it open. My heart slowed at the sight of Vicken still chained to the table with Kiyah curled up at his side.

  “Kiyah!” Stix called out before rushing to her.

  The girl’s head lolled when he picked her up frantically in his arms. A sheen of sweat showed on her face.

  “Wha-what’s happened to her?” her father asked.

  I glanced at the bandage on her wrist. “She gave blood to Vicken. It’s made her sick. She needs fluids and rest.”

  “She can stay,” Stix said quickly. “I’ll see that she has everything she needs. I can—”

  “No,” I replied. I had made Kiyah a promise and I was determined to keep it. “She’ll be treated at the Academy. The infirmary there is set up for situations like these.”

  “But—” Stix began.

  I met his gaze. “She’s coming with me.”

  Stix lowered his eyes and nodded.

  “Place her on a bear,” I instructed. “She’ll be carried to the exit.” I knelt next to Vicken’s still form. His face was a sickly gray and the wound from the bullet that had hit his forehead hadn’t healed even with Kiyah’s werewolf blood. He was in serious trouble. “Help me put Vicken on a bear as well.”

  I walked beside the great beast with a hand on the vampire’s arm. He swayed with the bear’s gentle movements, but gave no sign of awakening. The sluggish sound of his heartbeat made me anxious.

  The two numbers I dialed on Meg’s cellphone by heart were quickly answered. By the time the bears and I reached the exit from the Den, nineteen teenagers and five preteens waited with bags packed.

  I turned back to their parents and the rest of the werewolves who watched us leave. “I’m not stealing your children,” I said to reassure those with tears on their cheeks. “I am giving them a chance to see that there is more to the world than the Den. They can choose to come back, you can visit them at the Academy, and you yourselves are free to move from here if you wish.” I met the gazes of several mothers and fathers who held children too young to come with me. “As your little ones reach school age, they will be welcome at the Academy to begin their education. There, they will be safe, respected, and have friends whose differences are also strengths.” I glanced at Stix. “It’s time we realize that our actions have a far greater impact than in just our small piece of the world. I know it’s not easy to let your children go, but I will do everything in my power to keep them safe.”

  “Don’t go,” a woman with gray hair urged. “Stay with us. You’re our Alpha.”

  “Yes, stay,” a man with a thick blonde beard urged. “We need your guidance.”

  I could see the loss of everything they had known on their faces. I had just changed their lives completely. Their foundation that was based on Meg, the Gauntlet, and the walls that kept them safe, had been broken down. They were so used to following that taking their leader had left them in shock.

  “I’m only sixteen,” I said apologetically. “I don’t know any more about a leading a pack than any of you.”

  “But you’re an Alpha, the Alpha,” the first woman said.

  “You don’t need an Alpha,” I replied. I lifted a shoulder and said, “In fact, you don’t need werewolves in your lives.” At their astonished protests, I said, “I lived the first sixteen years of my life without other werewolves. I thought I was alone. My best friends are a vampire, an empath, a Grim, a warlock, a witch, and a dragon. Imagine my surprise when I was kidnapped and brought here to meet all of you!” At my grin, a few of them chuckled.

 

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