Chapter 32

Tristan

The moment that we left the car and walked toward Blood Mist lands, I had to focus as hard as I could to keep Kesh from forcing a shift on me. Even though he wanted to burn this place to the ground, he knew that we had to try to find Dylan's mate.

We focused on her scent, her breaths, and her heartbeats. In truth, I had little doubt that even if we found the boy that he wouldn't be in any shape to survive leaving the pack lands, but I would do this for her.

She was, is, and will always be my top priority and I have no plans to let anything happen to her now or ever again. As we approached that invisible boundary line, I couldn't help the traitorous thoughts from filling my head.

Visions of grabbing her and running as fast and far away from here was what I truly wanted, but I knew what it was like for mates to lose each other. Not personally, but I've seen it first-hand.

Dylan and I had talked about a lot, but not everything and I knew that even if she hadn't been marked, she had accepted that boy as her mate and that was all that was needed for their bond to solidify.

When, f*ck I mean if he dies, I corrected my thoughts. I had no idea how Dylan would handle it, but if she wanted to burn this place to the ground, I would light the match for her.

Micah had used his magic right before we crossed into Blood Mist and I knew that no one would be able to trace us with this spell, it was the same one that I had used when I had come here myself.

I let Kesh push forward and share control of my body with me the second I took the first step onto Rogan's disgusting lands and within seconds Kesh sensed a familiar scent and went on alert.

"I thought that other guard said that he was in a cell?"

Confusion washed over us for only a moment before we all watched Vincent or Vit as he was known here, step out from behind a massive tree trunk that was just in front of us.

Quickly I took in his body from head to toe, and even all bloody and bruised he had the audacity to stand there, fists clenched, and throw his question with as much venom as he could force through his busted lips.

"Why the f*ck would you bring her back here!" 

Every one of us stopped and while I knew that it was Vincent standing here, I couldn't stop myself or Kesh from taking a step ahead of Dylan and shielding her with my body.

"Did you honestly think that she would let me come back without her," I said to him softly, and both Kesh and I were trying to pick up on any other sounds or scents that might be around us.

Vit looked from Micah to me and then to Nico before he finally turned his attention to Dylan. Neither Kesh nor I missed the tears that gathered as he quickly looked to the ground before bowing to her.

Even with a part of his body still in the shadow of the tree, I could see that he had taken quite a beating and if this was what he looked like still, he might have been practically near death.

Even with the shape that his body was in, he didn't hesitate to go down to one knee as he bowed again to her.

"I'm sorry Dylan. I tried to get him out, I fought," but he didn't finish speaking because Dylan was around me and over to his side before I had even realized that she had moved.

Dylan had gone down on her own knees and wrapped her arms around Vincent's shoulders in an embrace I couldn't help but feel a little jealous of, but kept it contained as I watched her console him.

"Stop. Please. It's not your fault. You did everything you could and more than you even had to. And it's not too late. Eren is still alive."

Vincent's head had still been hanging low even as Dylan tried to soothe him, but at her words his body visibly jerked.

"How? How do you know that" he asked in a trembling voice as he looked to her and then turned to the three of us who were still standing a few paces away. 

It was then that I noticed that it wasn't just his voice that was trembling. Vincent's entire body was shaking, and I wasn't sure if it was because of what Dylan had just said or something else.

Unfortunately, I didn't have to think too hard about it because in the next few seconds his body seemed to give out and he practically crumpled down to the ground. 

Dylan had moved her arms from hugging him around the shoulders to holding him up from under his arms.

"Help me," he got out through clenched teeth and Nico was there in a flash. Vincent was a massive man, and while he was still conscious, it was clear that there was a sheen of sweat across his face and head.

"Apologies," he huffed out as Nico took Vincent's full weight off of Dylan and hefted him over his shoulder.

I saw Dylan reaching as if she was going to try to comfort him again, but I couldn't allow it for some reason. Moving towards her, I stood between her and Nico who had Vincent's arm slung over his shoulder and was now holding him up.

"Why are you here, from what we heard from the guard who stopped at Aspen the other day, you were in a cell."

Blood had bubbled up from somewhere inside of Vincent because a small amount was beginning to leak out the side of his mouth and it was not just from his lips. He took another few breaths before he spoke.

"Noel." He said his name as if he was both answering my question and providing a full explanation. Taking another few breaths before he could continue, we stood there waiting for him to speak, but we were wasting too much time.

"Noel slipped a key into my cell before he left with Rogan, and I waited a few hours before I made my move to get out.

Nico was holding Vincent up well and while I knew that we couldn't take Vincent into Blood Mist with us, I needed to ask the question I knew that Dylan couldn't.

"Did you see the boy, I mean Eren," I recalled his name quickly before I upset Dylan by calling him in such a way. I felt a weird pulse go through me and Kesh gasped suddenly before I felt it to.

Turning towards Dylan, I saw her eyes flash a dark crimson color briefly before she blinked it away back to gold. She was standing right beside me and when she put her hand out to touch my arm, I felt her voice rush through quickly and fiercely.

"Can Nico take Vit to the car and wait with him? Will that be, okay?"

I nodded to her quickly because I had been thinking the same thing, but I was unsure if she felt that she needed Nico beside her.

Glad that she felt that she would be okay with me and Micah only, I told Nico what she said. I watched as he was about to argue, but when Dylan placed her hand on Nico's cheek, she whispered softly, but we all heard.

"Please do this for me. You know these lands better than me and I know that you can keep him safe. I need you both to be safe. Please."

Nico looked only at her for a moment, and I knew that he was probably fighting the urge to leave her between himself and his wolf. When he finally nodded his agreement to her request, I knew he, like myself, could not deny her.

Vincent spoke up just as Nico was about to head out of Blood Mist and back to the cars, we had left parked a ways away.

"I did not see Eren in the cells, but Rogan has cells below the ones I was in. If he is here, he will be there, I'm sure of it."

"Where are the cells," Micah spoke up from behind me and I had almost forgotten that he was here for a moment, but thankful, as always because he was always the most rational and clear headed one of us.

Vincent gave us directions to the old barracks and while I had expected Dylan to be more familiar with the pack lands, it only infuriated me more to find out just how little she truly knew of this place.

Micah had been the one to visit her where she actually lived. I had a feeling if I were to see it, it wouldn't bring me any peace of mind and only upset me further. Especially if it was furnished with the bare minimum someone should have to live.

Once Nico was outside of the Blood Mist boundary line, the three of us headed in the direction that Vincent had sent us. 

The sun was already shedding light in the sky, and I knew that we would not have much time to use the shadows to our advantage.

Dylan walked between Micah and me and he, for whatever reason was in the lead. We moved across the land both undetected, and without coming across any type of patrols.

It felt like only minutes had passed by the time we came upon the building that Nico and Vincent had described and to my surprise, there was only one guard outside.

The dark brown wolf was large, but nowhere near as big as I was, but when Dylan took a step forward Kesh reached for her quickly.

"No," he uttered a bit harshly and when she turned to look at me, I couldn't keep him from speaking further. "You cannot be seen by anyone who knows you."

Dylan looked at us for a minute and I watched her questioning gaze shift from confusion to understanding.

We were still holding her wrist, but she picked up her other hand and squeezed my hand. "They would recognize me, but none know what she looks like."

For a second both Kesh and I were a bit confused at her words, but when she pulled her hand out of my grasp and took a few steps away, I realized what she meant.

Dylan shifted quickly into a massive wine red colored wolf that was so large I knew she rivaled even Kesh's massive size.

Gold eyes that seemed to practically glow met mine and when I heard her voice inside my head, both Kesh and I were practically frozen solid.

"Dylan was never allowed to shift or show me to anyone else. Little did he know that it would one day bite him in the a**!"

The soft sultry chuckle that resonated in my head was so different to Dylan's voice, but still left a pleasant sensation.

Kesh was finally able to speak again, and he practically begged me to let him shift alongside her, but she was right. They had the ideal situation on their hands, and I knew that they both needed to do this.

Dylan had shared that her wolf's name was Rae and she had described her to me before, but seeing her now, I knew that she was no ordinary wolf, but couldn't figure out why Kesh and I were feeling such power from her.

Micah, who again I had forgotten was with us, stepped forward. "You will need to take him out quietly and get the keys to the doors quickly."

Rae nodded at Micah and instantly turned and darted out of the tree line were standing in. Micah moved closer to me and when I felt his elbow brush mine, I bumped him back to let him know I was listening because there was no way I would take my eyes off her.

"I've never seen a female wolf as big as her, she's practically as big as Kesh," he said quickly, and I couldn't stop my response from spilling out of my mouth.

"She's f*cking fantastic!"

We were both standing there watching her move. Rae was not only fast, but she was also sleek and stealthy and moved low to the ground and made absolutely no noise as she pounced on the wolf and knocked him out in one fluid jump.

Unable to wait for her to drag him around the building. We were running towards her in an instant and made it to the door as Dylan, who was now herself again, walked around the side of the building and met us there.

The smile on her face was massive but held little feeling. I knew that it was a short lived delight that she had felt from letting her wolf out, but we were about to walk into an almost literal prison where her mate might be.

"Ready," I asked as she walked over to me. I reached out for her hand at the same time she reached for mine and I felt Kesh purr a bit as soon as her hand touched our own.

"No," she said softly, but when I felt her squeeze my hand tightly, I wished that I could talk her into waiting outside for me.

Micah asked her for the key and when she handed it over to him, he nodded towards her before giving her a soft smile.

Dylan's answering smile was a real smile and I couldn't help but feel thankful to Micah for yet another thing. He opened the door quickly and when we entered the building, I saw that it was completely empty just as Vincent had said.

There was a musty scent mixed in with a chemical smell and as I looked around the massive room, I found the small door towards the back left corner that Vincent had explained led to the basement.

We walked quickly to the door and when Micah unlocked it, he turned toward us before he opened the door.

"We will go in, look for him, and then leave. We only have a little more than half an hour to get back to the cars. Got it!"

I knew that he was speaking to Dylan, so I didn't bother saying anything, but turned towards her when I didn't hear her say anything.

Dylan's face looked white as a ghost and she had her just healed lip clenched between her teeth so hard that I was afraid she was about to cut through it at any moment.

Reaching over, I felt Kesh's worry surge faster and harder than my own as he used my thumb to pull her lip softly from between her teeth and then take her chin and turn her face up towards my own.

"We're in and out and if he is here, we will bring him with us. I promise you!"

Dylan's eyes were wide, and I watched as her pupils dilated a few times, before fully focusing on me. She didn't respond with words, but when the ring of gold on the rim of her iris got a bit wider, she finally nodded her agreement to both Micah and me.

Too bad the second that Micah pulled the door open, the scent of dirty flesh, blood, and human waste filled my nostrils. 

Micah's fingers shimmered as wisps of purple smoke floated around his fingertips and I knew that he was getting ready for what we might find down there.

I couldn't turn to look at Dylan in case my fear was showing on my face, so I tightened my hold on her hand and pulled her down the damp metal steps.

The moment we hit the bottom step I looked around and saw two rows of cells along each wall. There was little light in here and I hesitated to look into each cell as we approached them, but thankfully, Micah did it for us.

As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I realized that there were only six cells in here and Micah quickly sent in sparks of purple into each cell to check for inhabitants.

"There is no one here, he must be down below us."

Micah said the words I was thinking and as we headed down the make-shift hall between the two rows of cells, I searched for another door. This one was harder to find because it was black steel and blended well into the wall.

Even though there was no one in any of the cells, that both made me glad and anxious at the same time.

When we finally got to the door, Micah used the same key he had on the previous one, to open this door. I was nowhere near prepared for the smell of death and decay that hit us like a wave as he did.

My stomach turned violently, and I was barely able to keep whatever food was still in. my stomach from last night where it should be, but Dylan wasn't so lucky.

Still holding my hand, she leaned over to her left and vomited twice. The sounds of the contents of her stomach hitting the floor angered Kesh and worried us both.

When she was done, I turned to Micah and saw that he was standing between two identical black steel doors. Both had locks, but when he tried the key on the one on the left, it didn't work.

Micah turned to me quickly, "I can use enough magic to open one, but not both if I'm going to keep us concealed."

I felt Dylan begin to shake but nodded towards him. If he could only open one and Eren was not behind it, I would open the other somehow.

Micah's hands fluttered and moved in a pattern and the purple smoke seemed to sink into the keyhole, glow, and then disappear. Afraid that it hadn't worked, I took a step forward, only to finally hear the click of a lock.

Taking a deep breath, I watched Micah push the door roughly, and waited for it to swing open fully before taking Dylan to peer inside.

I saw Micah's shoulder tense as he went in first and was afraid of what we were about to walk in on, but Dylan gripped my hand tighter as we moved. I was glad for it because I used her strength to keep myself from shifting.

A man hung from chains that fell from the ceiling. He was naked and had cuts and gashes all along his body and he was beyond filthy. His dark head was hanging forward and the smell of infection seeped into my nose.

Afraid that he might actually be dead, I held Dylan in place to try to shield her. However, when I heard the chains rattle, I realized that he was still alive, but just barely. 

He must have sensed us because he ever so slowly lifted his head in our direction and when green eyes met mine, I felt Dylan fall to her knees as she cried, "Oh gods, Cruz!"