I strained out my chest, trying not to take a breath, but it was taking everything in me.

"Brax," I urged in the link.

"Get her out of there," Derik snapped down the link, but Brax was still searching.

"It's here; it has to be," he said back as I gripped the cliff. Black spots started appearing in my vision, and I grabbed Brax. He cursed down the link a second before something gripped my ankle.

My air whooshed out in a tornado of bubbles, a scream escaping when whatever had grabbed me tugged me down.

Panic filled my aching chest, and I reached for Brax. He grabbed my hands, trying to pull me back, fighting whatever had me, his biceps straining as his own face looked like air would be really good right about now.

"Get out of there!" Kai roared down the link.

"Don't let her go!" Derik screamed at Brax.

I tried to kick whatever had me off, but it held my ankle tighter. It didn't matter anymore; I had no more breath in me. Darkness edged my vision, Brax's desperate face and wide eyes the last thing I saw before it took me completely.

I was pretty sure I was dead, but there was pain. My chest ached and burned. I was sure if I was really dead, it shouldn't feel so awful. My shadows stirred inside me, and my throat closed, water rushing out of me.

My eyes flung open as I coughed and spluttered, emptying my lungs and chest of all the swallowed water. My nose burned as it came out of there too, and I took heaving breaths to compensate.

"Thank fuck," Brax growled, his voice raw as he enclosed me in his arms. I was used to being warm, but he was freezing too. I shivered against him and pulled back to see him.

"What happened?" I wheezed, and he nodded toward the cave entrance where the water was licking my feet. I was on stone and rubble, a bank on the inside of the caves.

"The shadows were trying to show you where to go to get to the entrance. They weren't your shadows, but I think ours were speaking to theirs. They weren't trying to drown you though," he said, and I coughed again, wincing at the pain that racked through my chest.

"Okay. That's not creepy at all, but thanks, shadows," I said to the air, and the water bubbled before stilling. I tensed and looked at Brax.

"They understand us; they know why we are here."

"And they'll help?"

"They're hard to understand since they don't actually talk, but from the feelings I got in my shadows, I want to say yes. But there's a warning."

"A warning?"

"Like not all of them are on the same side. Some will help, but I don't think all of them will."

"And I'm guessing there is no way to tell the difference?"

"Only in the feelings our shadows translate to us," he admitted, and I nodded; that was just great. I went to get up, and Brax helped me. I clutched him, my head spinning.

"Beautiful, you good?" Derik asked in the link.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Is the portal?" I asked.

"It's holding."

"Just holding? Did something happen?"

"It tried to close when you passed out."

"Oh."

"Don't do it again, or I'm jumping in there and getting locked in there with you," Kai threatened, and I smiled. They were hot when they were protective.

"And you're hot when you're alive and breathing. Keep it that way. I like Brax; I don't want to have to kill him for letting you die," Kai warned, and I laughed.

Brax rolled his eyes. "We need to keep moving; we don't know where in these caves the beast is," he said, and I sobered, following him into the dark caves that looked unstable as hell.

Rubble and rocks weren't just on the bank; they made up the pathways of the caves.

It made moving through them a little slower than I wanted. At least the shadows were more alive than they had ever been inside me and Brax in our realm. His were constantly checking on me, soothing, caressing like normal, but it felt more intense than usual.

"I feel it too," Brax said, his voice echoing through the caves.

"I like it," I replied.

He grinned. "If only there was time to see how much we could feel here." He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively, and I laughed, clutching a piece of rock above my head and ducking as the cave lowered slightly before stretching out again.

"I have a better idea. Remember the game we played with my shadows? And I had to find you?" I asked, and he nodded, narrowing his eyes on the tunnels ahead of us.

"Yeah, want to try it to find the beast?" he guessed.

I nodded. "We may not know what it looks like or anything, but we project our shadows out, and it'll tell us when we're not alone," I said. Brax nodded, his shadows pouring from him. I let mine out too, and they were off, running like children through the caves.

They were almost giddy, like they were being let out to play, and it was kind of adorable. I missed being able to use them while I was pregnant. I had been relying so much on magic that it was kind of refreshing not to be able to.

My shadows moved fast, searching the tunnels, racing Brax's in a game they played together. I smiled at Brax, and he grabbed my hand, helping me over bigger rocks that blocked the path more than the rest. I could've done it myself, but I liked his touch too much to refuse the hand extended to me.

We came up on a wall of rock that took more time to move, and just as we cleared the path enough to squeeze through, there was an enormous roar through the caves. I shrunk back from it, the echoing throbbing in my eardrums as I covered my ears.

The cliffs shook, the caves threatening us with dropping rubble and rock, showering us in dust. I brushed myself off as my shadows raced back inside of me, urging me forward. I peered through the dust and followed the way my shadows led me.

They had found the beast.

Brax followed me too, his shadows back as he eyed the jagged, rough ceiling of the cave tunnels. They were holding, but neither of us knew how long for.

"We need to move faster. My shadows aren't liking us being in here this long," he whispered, and I nodded, trudging faster over the uneven path.

My shadows led my body and Brax where we needed to go. I was so glad I didn't have to do this on my own because my sense of direction was terrible. I would've been lost three turns ago.

"No, you wouldn't have, beautiful, because I've memorized every turn you've taken,"

Derik said, and his words warmed my freezing body. My damp clothes still stuck to me, but the way he made sure I was okay had me heating up.

"Why? I have Brax."

"You also tend to run off from us at the worst possible times. I am making sure you get out of there even if you get separated. Both of you," Derik said, and I licked my lips.

I wished I had spent those few extra moments this morning admiring that gorgeous body of his and appreciating the love he had for me.

I would make it up to him though, make it up to all of them. I had been a crazy bitch the last four days, and that wasn't likely to change until I had Zale back, but maybe I could relent just a little and enjoy my alphas for the comfort they were to me.

"We know, Little Luna. You don't need to feel guilty, but if you want to make it up to me in the form of more time on my cock, then I'm all for it," Kai chuckled down the link, and I laughed.

I covered my mouth as the beast let out another roar, its anger turning to a whimper as we drew closer.

"We're almost there," I whispered to Brax.

"Careful, Spitfire, it senses us," he warned and moved in closer to me, his hand hovering over my lower back.

"I can sense it too," I said, my shadows writhing beneath my skin, but they didn't feel scared, more urgent. I was trying to understand them the same way Brax did, but they were too worked up.

We turned a corner, and the dark opening to a wall of rocks and debris covered a mountain of a man. If it was a man. It had skin, but it was scarred and stretched with tattoos covering it. But they weren't territory tattoos like my alphas; these ones looked magical, like they were runes or something.

"They locked Adrenna's lover in that body," Brax whispered, and the beast snarled, shaking and moving, trying to get out, but the cave shook with every move he made.

I stumbled into Brax, and he caught me. I steadied myself against him, then moved toward the beast. His eyes snapped to me between the rocks of his cage, and they looked...sad.

I frowned, the black eyes so intimidating but so deep. A scar ran down one eye, right through the cheek, and his face was distorted. His skin was lightly furred too.

His hands almost paws, claws out, his teeth gnashing angrily as I stepped closer.

"He was human once?"

"According to Tabitha, whatever her word means to you." Brax shrugged, and he knew it meant a whole damn lot.

"We're going to get you out of here," I said to the beast. He gnashed his teeth angrily, thrashing more so more rocks pushed down on him. A boulder broke free and rolled down, almost taking me with it, but Brax swung me out of the way before it hit, and we toppled to the ground.

I landed with a thud on the ground as Brax did.

"Careful," he coughed, wincing as he stood up and helped me up, debris dust filling the air. I moved through it and back to the beast.

"We need you to stay still so we can get you out without being crushed," I said to him, not even sure if he could understand me. He eyed me, his head turning before he whined and shook a small amount. When he did, blood trickled down his thick veining neck.

"He's hurt. I don't know if he can die, but I really don't want that happening before he's killed Adrenna," I snapped, and at the mention of her name, he let out another roar that crossed into a howl. I covered my ears, hiding in Brax's arms as the entire cave roared with him.

It shook and thundered before releasing another load of rocks and obstructive boulders. The beast gnashed its teeth, gnarling, as it frothed. It was some kind of human-wolf crossover that went wrong. Like he was stuck mid-transition and couldn't get through either side of human or wolf. And the size of a dragon, that too. It made the idea of getting him out, ridiculously unlikely, but I had to try.

I ignored the debris that fell after the mini earthquake, ignored the small rocks that tore through my shirt, left scratches, and cut my skin. I didn't have time to wallow or worry about the magnitude of what we had to do; I just had to do it.

3. The Caves

LORELAI

I spent the next few hours hauling stone, rock, and debris from the piles caging in the beast. I didn't mention the witch who he was spelled to hunt; I didn't even mention Zale. Instead, I just focused on what I was doing.

My body was warm now, damp with sweat, as the exercise ached in my muscles.

My arms hurt, my stomach, my legs. My throat was bone dry and burning; my head was pounding from lack of food, and I had no idea how much actual time had passed, but we were getting closer.

The beast only got angry every few minutes and didn't constantly growl at us, so that was our upside.

The shadows helped by flicking rocks out of the way, but we had to be careful which ones we moved, or the whole cave was going to collapse on us.

"When we get you out of here, follow the cave out toward the water; there's a portal on the bank there. It will take you to her," I whispered to the beast as I finally got the boulder from his back that was pressing down on his neck, making it bleed.

Brax helped me move it to the side, and the beast shook out his head, his bones crackling as he stretched. He turned to me and nodded once, his lip curling.

Brax moved down by his feet, clearing each paw, as I tried to find safe ones to move on him.

I found one and went to pull, but my shadows hissed. I frowned and looked to Brax, who wore the same expression. The beast gnashed his teeth, snarling with a feral look as he tried to move more.

It made the rubble move with him, the same rubble I was standing on to balance.

A pang hit my stomach, almost like an electric shock.

"I think there is something trying to use the portal," I said, frowning and hardening my hold on my shadows as they swirled and moved back inside, confirming my suspicions. My hold on my magic was distant, but my shadows could feel it too.

"We need to get to that portal," I said, and Brax nodded just as the beast roared.

"Stop!" I screamed as his movements shifted everything beneath me. I toppled down. Brax went for me, but his human pace wasn't fast enough. My head bounced off the edge of a concrete slab with a sickening thud before I rolled down.

I grimaced as the ache grew increasingly painful, blood trickling down my forehead.

"Fuck, your head," Brax breathed, looking at the top of it. "It needs stitches," he said.

I shook my head. "It needs healing, which we can do once we're back. C'mon," I said and ran to where the restless beast thundered and roared. The caves groaned too, threatening us again, and my shadows were on high alert, urging me to leave, but I wasn't finished. I had to get the beast free.

It wanted out too, and apparently, we had cleared enough because it let out another deafening sound before it bashed the rest of the debris away.

It had the caves shaking again.

"Shit, it's going to come down on us!" Brax growled through the crumbling walls and roof.

The beast shook out his body, bones crunching, teeth frothing before raking his claws through the rubble.

If I understood beast, I would say he grinned, and then he was gone, running, taking off through the tunnels, leaving us behind in the collapsing caves to be crushed to death after we had just saved it. Great.

I turned to Brax.

"We've got to run!" I screamed, and he nodded, grabbing my hand and taking off, almost dragging me through the caves. They were definitely trying to kill us. I couldn't make a step without faltering on more debris, more skin scratched up, and my head was pounding.

It had stopped bleeding, I think, but it was hard to tell when there was new blood breaking free of the cuts on my arms and face. Brax was getting cut up too, and I pushed my protesting legs faster.

The shadows were helping, catching whatever they could, but mine were also keeping my will strong over the portal. Whatever was trying to test it, to see if it could get through, was still trying, and I had no idea if it could or if I could stop it without having a tether to my magic.

"Run, Little Luna. Your beast is almost here; he is just killing his way through the shadows that are inspecting the portal," Kai urged. I tried to listen, but my breath was harsh as it passed through my chest, and the caves were filling in quickly.

"The beast can kill shadows?" Brax asked.

"Looks like," Derik said, his voice low, and I raised a brow at that. We hadn't come across something like that before. But the witches said he would only go after Adrenna.

"It'll only come for you if you stand in the way of what it wants," Derik explained, and I knew that, so I focused on where my feet were going and not dying.

By the time we got to the bank, the water was thrashing as it filled with rocks too.

"Fuck," Brax cursed. I looked at the dark water, swallowing hard as panic settled in.

"What are the chances the cave out of here is still open?" I grimaced. Brax shrugged.

"Probably about the same as getting into the shadow realm and out again with all our body parts." He tried some dry humor, but I was not amused. I sucked in a breath.

"We have no choice."

"It's not far. Now that I know where we're going, we should get straight through."