Free Dark Moon Rising (The Revenant Book 2) by Kali Argent Page B

ground, Zerrik twirled it between his fingers with a defeated expression. “Everything is soaked from the rain.”
    “Follow me.”
    Leading the vampire to a rock formation near the viewing fence, Rhys lowered himself into the soggy grass and crawled through the opening created by the boulders. Inside, he felt around in the dark until he found the canvas bag he hidden before the last full moon, tested its weight, and wiggled backwards to free himself. He tossed the bag to Zerrik, smirking when the male’s eyebrows drew together.
    “This isn’t my first rodeo.”
    Taking the bag of broken branches, twigs, and dry, dead grass back to the rest of the group, Zerrik stacked the larger pieces in a charred indention in the ground while Rhys layered the wood with clipped grass and dead leaves.
    “How long have these people been here?” Zerrik asked, scraping two rocks together, attempting to rekindle the ghost of a previous campfire.
    “No more than three days.” Rhys’ stint in solitary had lasted that long, and there hadn’t been any new prisoners before his confinement.
    “What’s with the jungle shit?” Cade asked in between blowing on the tinder to ignite the embers into flames. The fire crackle to life, growing more intense as it consumed the dried wood. “I didn’t figure they’d put so many of us together in one place.”
    “Those holes you woke up in are just intake cells. No one ever spends more than a night there.” The pack didn’t give a damn about grouping so many captives together. To their thinking, none of them would survive long enough to plot against them. “When the cells aren’t housing prisoners, the alpha uses them as punishment for the pack.”
    “Solitary confinement?” Zerrik asked.
    Rhys bobbed his head slowly. “No food. Minimal water.” Alone in unending darkness with only his thoughts for company. “It’s not something I’d wish on anyone.”
    “Hmm.” Pushing to his feet, Cade wiped his hands on his gray sweatpants and huffed. “This alpha sounds like a prick.”
    Rhys snorted. “You wouldn’t be wrong.”
    “Sorry to break up the testosterone party, but I need to speak with Rhys.” Dressed in a black T-shirt depicting a cuddly, cartoon lion and a pair of black sweats with the legs hiked up just below her knees, Thea leveled him with a glare that would have made weaker men tremble. “It’s later.”
    Nodding at the sympathetic look from the other males, Rhys followed Thea past the waterfall to a rock outcropping in the corner of the enclosure. With a grace he could never hope to imitate, she lowered herself to the ground, crisscrossing her legs, and folded her hands in her lap. She didn’t speak, not until he’d seated himself as well, and when she did, it wasn’t at all what he’d expected.
    “Can we talk here? Are they listening?”
    “There are cameras mounted on the retaining wall, but no audio.”
    “Good.” Inching closer, she reached across the distance and took his hands in the darkness. “I realize that I may have jumped to conclusions and overreacted, but I’m ready to listen. No judgment. I just want the truth.”
    She had every right to her anger and suspicion. Had their situations been reversed, he couldn’t say how he’d have reacted, but he doubted it would have been much different. He didn’t even know where to start trying to unravel the mess they’d found themselves in, so he started with something easy.
    “I didn’t mean to deceive you, but I couldn’t risk anyone overhearing.”
    “I kind of came to that conclusion on my own, hence the apology.”
    “You didn’t apologize.”
    A smile crept into her voice. “Don’t push it, wolf. Now, tell me about your…association with the pack.”
    He’d been born into the St. Louis pack thirty-two years ago during a hot, humid night in late July. His father had liked to tell the story of his early arrival—a full three weeks early—and how he’d been forced to deliver Rhys right on