Chapter 22

“But there can’t be!” Damien growled gently, his eyes darting around the room, looking for the sound. “This room is empty! We have looked! There is no one down here!”

Frozen to the spot, I carefully scanned my eyes around the room once more, looking for any sign of life or for anything that was out of the ordinary. My eyes soon fell onto the back wall, which we easily ignored. For there, hanging up, pinned to the wall, was a filthy, large sheet. The sheet blended perfectly with the green-tinged concrete, almost invisible to an unknowing or unlooking eye. Beckoning over Blake, Alistair, and Damian, I placed one finger against my lips as I pointed towards the sheet and tiptoed towards it. Gulping nervously, I grabbed the stiff material and pulled it down hard, in one swift movement, filling the room with the sound of tearing material, which revealed a large hidden alcove, carved into the wall.
What I saw next made a loud, startled gasp escape my lips as both hands flew to my mouth in shock and horror. For there, sitting in the alcove, in all its shiny glory, was a large silver cage radiating its power into the room. Stepping back in fear, I growled in warning at the cage, smelling the acidic smell of wolfsbane. Peering in through the bars, I noticed the floor of the cage was entirely made of silver, which anyone knows, is a werewolf's greatest weakness.

Who would even build something this evil?

Interrupting my thoughts, Damien’s voice growled behind me angrily, as he came and stood behind me.

“Who or what is that, lying inside of that cage? More to the point, are they dead or alive?”

Peering into the cage once again, I finally realised that there were two slumped, half-naked figures lying on the bottom of the cage floor, on a tattered blanket but covered in their own filth. They were hardly moving, if at all and it was hard to tell if the figures were human or animal and, if they were indeed, like Damien had said, dead, or alive.

“We need to get them out of there!” seethed Blake angrily stepping forward and walking towards the cage. “Get the Healers down here now! Those prisoners are going to need urgent medical assistance.”
“No!” I screamed loudly, standing in front of Blake angrily and pushing him backwards. “There’s silver and wolfsbane in there! You will end up hurting yourself and making yourself weak! Please don’t go in there! Wait for the healers to come!”
“But they will die in there!” protested Blake loudly, pointing towards the bars behind me. “We don’t know how long they’ve been in there! They could already be dead or dying! We don’t have time to wait!”

The sound of ripping material once more filled the room, interrupting our argument and as we looked around, we saw Damien ripping his shirt into two pieces and carefully wrapping his hands. Before we could stop him, Damien marched towards the silver bars and with all his strength, he pulled the door open and away from the cage, before flinging it further into the alcove and falling to his knees in a pool of sweat.

Without a second thought and before I could stop him, Blake rushed past me and entered the cage and grabbed one of the lifeless bodies. Panting heavily, he slowly retreated out of the death trap and gently placed the lifeless body in the middle of the room. wiping his brow on the back of his hand, he returned once more to the cage and retrieved the second body before gently placing it down beside the first victim. Suddenly, he fell to his knees, just like Damien had done moments ago. Panicking, I rushed towards the two men, but Blake held up a hand, panting and shaking his head.
“Stay back from that death trap, Libby!” Blake panted, his colour starting to return. “It’s dripping in wolfbane! We will be okay in a minute.”

Nodding, I crouched down and peered at the apparent lifeless bodies before the larger body let out another deep primal groan, making me jump back in shock.

“They're alive?” Blake gasped loudly. “But how? And who or what are they? They must be werewolves like us if they are being held in silver and wolfsbane!”

Suddenly, the noise of a dozen pairs of feet hurrying into the room startled us and as I looked up, I saw Nick and his Healer team quickly descending the rickety staircase and making a beeline for the two prisoners we had just rescued. In the blink of an eye, the room was a sudden flurry of activity before Nick strode up to us, his face full of concern and worry.

“Some good news and some bad news I’m afraid,” Nick began slowly. “The good news is that they are alive, but only just. The bad news is that I don’t know if they will survive. They are both extremely weak and even more malnourished, I'd say! I need to get them both to the hospital as soon as I can.”
“Do we know who they are yet?” Blake asked curiously, glancing down at the lifeless bodies. “Are they human, animal or a werewolf?”
“Sadly, they are werewolves like us,” responded Nick quickly. “However, I don’t know if their wolves have made it, unfortunately. I’m not sure who they are if I’m honest. Do we have any missing people reported within the packs?”
“Nothing that we are aware of I’m afraid,” replied Alistair slowly. “I’ll put a message out to the packs. If anyone is missing, we will soon know about it!”

Peeling myself away from Blake, Alistair, and Nicholson, I carefully wandered back towards the victims and knelt in the middle of them. Who would be so evil enough to keep two werewolves locked up in silver and in wolfsbane? Was Julianne really that evil? Mya asked ruefully. Carefully I swept the hair back from the faces of both people and recoiled in shock, my blood running cold. Feeling my breath become ragged in my chest, I stood up and looked towards Blake and Alistair who were watching me carefully.

“I know who they are!” I stammered loudly, feeling my chest tighten painfully and the room began to spin into darkness. “They are my parents!”

As the room began to turn black and spin around, I felt my knees give way beneath me and I was only just aware of myself falling to the ground. I heard the muffled sounds of feet running towards me before many pairs of hands grabbed me and steadied me to the ground. Finally sitting down on the floor, I tried to speak but nothing more than a croak escaped my lips.

“What do you mean that they are your parents? They can't be!” Alistair growled angrily, glancing at Blake in confusion. “You told us that they were dead!”
“Do you think that I am lying!” I furiously snarled back, my fangs starting to protrude as my anger grew. “I thought that they were dead but I’m telling you, those prisoners are my mum and dad!”
“Regardless of who they are, I need them back at the hospital now,” Nick butted in urgently. “I’m just going to take them both now and see if I can save them. I’ll keep you all updated on their conditions. We can sort out their identities later!”

We all watched silently as Nick and his team gently picked up the prisoners and carried them back upstairs and out of sight. The smell seemed to follow as the room no longer smelled like it did moments ago.

“So, what happens now boss?” Damien asked quickly. “We go out to find three criminals and find two half-dead wolves instead.”
“Those half-dead wolves are my parents!” I snarled, baring my teeth at Damien. “Have some respect!”
“Everyone needs to calm down! We can't be sure of who they are just yet,” Blake growled, showing his Alpha side, and making us all shrink back in submission. “But this changes nothing! We will still hunt those vile creatures down and have them punished. We will try to save those poor victims, who we hope are your parents, but this will mean that kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment will be added to their charges!”
“Can’t we just kill them and be done with it?” Alistair growled. “It would be so much easier.”

Before anyone could utter another sound, the sound of the wooden staircase creaking alerted us to someone's arrival once more. We quickly looked up to see Jensen and Jared running in, looking excited and breathless as they ran towards us and skidded to a halt.

“Alpha, Beta, Luna, we have some good news for you!” cried out Jared excitedly. “We have located and secured them safely in our prisoner's wing!”
“Located and secured who?” Me and Blake chorused together while looking at Jared curiously.
“James and Julianne of course!”