Twenty Three

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

I am on my hands and knees, crawling like my life depends on it.

Behind me, I can hear the heaving breathing of the wolves.

They are close behind me.

I move through the cave system.

I can tell I am going deeper underground.

The stones are damp and grimey.

I crawl on.

They are close behind.

I can smell them.

I can hear their claws scraping against the damp stone.

Then finally, I emerge into a cavern.

It is lit by lanterns and the walls extend as far as I can see.

The floor beneath me is dry.

People are living down here!

Suddenly, humans and wolves come through the myriad of different corridors. From all directions.

I am surrounded.

I grab onto the luna voice inside me.

"What do I do?" I ask the ancestral power.

"Trust yourself," it tells me.

"Hey, look," I hear a rough voice say, "what have we got here?" A wolf steps forward. "What are you then?" he asks, as he shifts into human form.