Free Wolf Pact: A Wolf Pact Novel by Melissa de La Cruz Page A

beautiful, though, with curly red hair and green eyes. She had a forthright, arresting grace about her, but her eyes looked a bit sad, as if she had been through some hardship.
    She stared at him.
    “Who are you?” he whispered. Then he noticed the amulet around her neck. The Heart of Stone. She carried the Black Fire of Hell. He jerked away from her, his mind racing. She was not a hound, he knew that much—her eyes were green, not crimson—but the charm she wore marked her as one of the underworld. A spy! Romulus’s spy! She had to be a human tracker—he’d heard the masters sometimes used Red Bloods as eyes and ears aboveground.
    Lawson cursed under his breath. She had seen him—looked directly at him. He couldn’t panic. He had to do something—what? If she was a spy, then let her come to them—
Let her find us
, he thought. She was close by—he could sense her presence—perhaps only a few miles away.
    He senther a vision of the butcher shop, let her see him as a wolf. He felt her satisfaction. He was right, then. She was looking for them. That much was clear. She answered to Romulus. He released her from his vision.
    The darkness returned and the oculus went black. Why had it shown her to him? To warn him? It had to be. But where was Tala? The oculus hadn’t given him the answer he sought.
    Lawson didn’t know what to do. He was wasting time; the longer he stayed in the light of the oculus, the greater the risk that Romulus would see him there. He hesitated, and while he was vacillating, the oculus came back to life and a low, powerful voice rumbled from hidden depths.
    “Speak your name, hound.” It was a command. Romulus.
    Lawson backed away from the light, trying not to panic. The voice filled him with fear and loathing, and it took all his strength not to run. So far, it seemed that Romulus had not recognized him. But he had to get out of there.
    “Speak your name.”
    Think …
He had to say something … or it would become suspicious … he could not stall for longer … he had to do something … say something … he waited too long …
    The oculuswent dark and as the earth opened up beneath him, he was thrown into the void.

T HIRTEEN
     
    L awson wasfalling, tumbling through a dark cavern filled with sharp rock, and when he landed, he crashed hard on the stone ground.
    “Ugh,” he groaned. He heard the shuffling of feet and looked up to see his brothers standing at the edge of the pit, looking down at him.
    “Oh great, just great,” Edon said when he saw Lawson lying there. “Did you have to get caught? Did you do this on purpose?”
    “Not funny,” Lawson said, trying to stand up. Thank goodness his body healed quickly.
    “Ah, you’ll survive,” Rafe said.
    “I don’t think I’ve survived this yet, genius,” Lawson snapped. “Come on, guys, a hand?” He knew his brothers were enjoying this a little too much. At least he was upright. Now he just needed to get out of this hole. “Where’s Mac?”
    “You deadyet?” Malcolm asked, peering over the edge.
    “I keep trying, but the universe won’t seem to oblige. Any ideas on how I can get out of this one?”
    Malcolm was quiet for a moment. He disappeared from the edge of the pit only to return a moment later with a broken branch. “Rafe, can you take this? I’m not sure I can support his weight.”
    Rafe took the branch and held it over the side. “Lawson, can you climb up some of those rocks and then grab hold of this?”
    Lawson flexed his arms and legs. Nothing seemed broken, and his bruises would fade quickly. He scaled the walls of the cavern and then grabbed the branch, letting Rafe pull him to freedom.
    “We have to get out of here,” he said. “Mac, how you feeling?”
    “Bad,” Malcolm said, and Lawson could see his face was pale, greenish. “They’re heading back to the oculus now. A small unit, two or three.” Malcolm shook his head and clutched his stomach. “I think I need to puke.”
    Edon hustled them