Moon Chosen Box Set: BBW Werewolf Shifter Romance

Chapter 7

7

Eva led us through the barn and out into the open field that lay beyond the building. The time of day was now afternoon and storm clouds on the horizon threatened to ruin what remained of the day. A faint mist helped to cover us from prying eyes, and our new cloaks finished our camouflage. Eva wasn’t very tall and she had a tight grip on our hands, so we were forced to stoop. The tall grass of the field therefore covered anything else of us that remained to be seen.

The field was a hundred yards across, and the perimeter was fenced with an old wooden fence. We reached the far end. Eva ducked under and we climbed over. The grass from the pasture grew ten yards farther until it hit the rocky bareness that made up most of the perimeters of the islands. Scraggly trees grew up from beneath boulders and brush tried their hardest to cover a trail that led through the rocks. It was an old trail, judging by the smoothed stones where feet had long-trodden, and wound its way leisurely down a slope to the aforementioned cliffs. Far off came the sound of waves crashing violently against rocks.

Eva skipped down the path as spry as a mountain goat and we hurried after her. The path stretched for another forty yards before we came to the edge of nothing. The ground came to an abrupt end at the edge of the rocks and we now had a clear view of the crashing waves. The lake sat twenty yards below us. A harsh wind blew the water against the rocks and created swells and pools among the many stones. Unlike Wolf Island, there was no flat spot to the cave entrance. There was only a narrow, jumbled mess of boulders and stones beneath the cliffs. The gap between life and death was maybe five yards.

I leaned forward and caught a glimpse of some dark depressions in the cliff wall below us. Those must have been the cave entrances.

Eva waved to us from the edge of the cliff to our left. “This way.” She hopped off the side of the rock and disappeared from view.

“Oh s**t!” I yelped.

Greg and I hurried forward, but we were only halfway to the rescue when Eva popped her head up over the edge of the ground. She had a wide, devilish grin on her face.

“I’ve always wanted to do that to someone,” she admitted.

I clutched my heart and glared at her. “Don’t try it on someone with a weak heart or you’ll end up in the Braille,” I warned her.

She giggled. “We’re almost there.” She ducked down out of sight.

Greg and I walked over to the edge and saw she’d stood on a flat rock four feet below the edge of the cliff. The flat rock was the beginning of a series of rock steps that led down to the boulders and water below. Our guide was halfway down the steps and she waved to us. We hopped down and slowly followed her. The steep steps were slick from the moist air and one false move would find us a flat decoration on the large rocks below us.

The steps wound around to the front of the cliff on which we just stood. The last dozen steps gave us a good look of the cliff wall and I saw my assumption was correct. The dark depressions were cave entrances, and I could see why we’d need Eva’s hand to point the way. There were a dozen cave entrances, all different sizes and angles. Some seemed to lead back up to the cliff, and others pointed down to the bowels of the island.

Eva led us to one that was of medium size with a straight direction into the cliff. It would be an easy stoop for us adults. Then she pointed up.

“That’s the one you need.”

I followed her finger and saw she pointed to another cave entrance ten yards above us. The mouth was only four feet tall and three feet wide.

“You’re joking, right?” I asked her.

She shook her head. “No, Mama said it was that one, and I’ve seen him come out of there before.”

“Were you supposed to out here after dark?” I asked her.

“I wasn’t out here at night. He came out on a cloudy day,” she explained.

I cringed. “Great. A vampire who doesn’t mind a little sunburn.”

“Thank you for your assistance,” Greg spoke up. He took Eva’s hand and bowed his head to her. “We will be fine from here on out, and your parents need you to watch the house while they’re away.”

Eva smiled and curtsied to him. “It was my pleasure. Good luck. Oh, here.” She handed Greg a flashlight. “You’ll need that. The caves are nearly as dark as the Braille. Bye!” She scampered back up the path like a billy goat and was soon out of sight.

I trained my eyes on the cave entrance. “I think we’re going to need it. That cave’s a little bit out of my reach.”

“But not outside your werewolf ability to climb,” Greg assured me.

“So are werewolves part spider now?” I mused.

He chuckled and shook his head. “No, we merely have a good grip and balance. Do as I do and you’ll reach the entrance.” He raised his hands and my eyes widened as I watched his fingers lengthen into claws.

I pointed a finger at his hands. “So I can do that?”

“Yes.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Not in the least.”

“So-um, how do I do that?”

“Hold up your hands and concentrate on transforming your fingers. Instinct should do the rest,” he assured me.

I breathed out. “Okay, here I go.” I raised my hands and concentrated on my fingers. They did-nothing. Lots and lots of nothing. I glanced past myself and at Greg. “I think my instinct is broken. Is there some sort of a cheat code I can use?”

A sly smile slipped onto his lips. “There is. Hold still and I’ll show it to you.”

The look in his eyes was all I needed to see to know he meant trouble. I held my hands in front of me and backed up. “Oh no. Whatever you’re planning leave me out of IT!” Greg picked me up and lifted me over his head so I was on my back. I flailed and kicked the air. “Let me go!”

“As you wish,” he replied.

Greg tossed me at the cliff wall. I flew fifteen yards up the air and hit the hard rock above the entrance. My hands dug into the cliff wall and I clung shivering to the rocks. I glanced over my shoulder at the ground far beneath me. Greg stood at the foot of the rocks and had his hands don the wall. The world spun in circles, so I shut my eyes and hugged the rocks.

“Get me down!” I yelled.

“Use your instincts,” he called back.

“Right now they’re telling me to kill you!” I growled.

He chuckled and began his ascent towards the cave entrance and me. “Use your other instincts. The ones that allow you to cling to the wall as you are.”

I opened my eyes and looked at my hands. They were long claws now, and they clung easily to the various rocks that protruded from the wall. My feet sat atop more rocks beneath me. “You’re-you’re right! I did it! I did it!” I got a little carried away and leaned back. My fingers slipped over the rocks, but I gripped them tight and returned to my hugging of the wall. “Kind of.”

“Climb down and I will assist you into the cave,” Greg told me.

“All right. Ready or not, here I come.”

I eased myself down and along the side of the cave entrance. Greg waited for me there. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me inside. I collapsed onto my knees and kissed the cold, hard, damp ground.

“I’m never leaving you again,” I vowed to the earth.

“You may on the climb down if we find ourselves unsuccessful in acquiring the vampire’s help,” Greg pointed out.

I snorted. “From what I’ve heard about vampires and werewolves we’ll be lucky to make it out with a few pints to spare. How strong are vampires, anyway?”

“Inhumanely strong. Ancient ones can defeat many werewolves at once,” he told me.

I gulped. “And isn’t this guy supposed to be old?”

“The name Methuselah does imply that, but we should see with our own eyes.” Greg clicked on the flashlight and we shuffled forward through the low cave.

The cave led us deep into the earth beneath the farmlands. Sometimes we were forced to crawl on our knees, and other times it was tall enough we could stand straight and walk. The cave slowly descended, and sometimes it made a small backtrack on itself like a spiraling staircase, but without the useful steps. The floor was soaked by the ground water that flowed through the earth, and more than once I was forced to grab a rough stone that protruded from the wall to save myself from a nasty fall.

This was not my idea of fun. The close quarters made my heart beat like a hard rock band drummer on meth and every step was an adventure in slipping and sliding. I ducked and dodged large rocks that stuck out from the walls. My head, arms and legs scraped and collided with those I missed, leaving some nice scratches and cuts. If the vampire needed a trail to follow us, my blood would lead the way.

After an hour I got sick of the whole thing. My voice echoed off the thick walls and bounced around us like a mad bouncing ball. “How far does this thing go? It feels like we should’ve reached Wolf Island by now,” I quipped.

“The length of time is deceptive because the cave has forced us to walk back many times,” Greg replied. “It seems this vampire, if we find him in this cave, doesn’t appreciate visitors.”

“A simple Keep Out sign would’ve worked. . .” I mumbled.

A few minutes later we reached a tall spot in the cave. The walls widened to ten yards and Greg’s flashlight revealed a large chamber with a domed ceiling that rose fifteen yards above us. It was like a birdcage, but no natural light penetrated the deep depths we found ourselves in, though there were half a dozen other passages to escape through. There was a small wooden table with an oil lamp on its top between two passage mouths. A chair sat near the table, but it was empty. Beside the oil lamp sat a small metal bell like those you’d see in a hotel.

“We should be very careful here. There may be traps,” Greg warned me. I’d had enough of this place. I strode past him over to the table and slammed my hand on the bell. “Or perhaps we could ring the bell,” he added.

The ring echoed around the small chamber and down the passages. Greg’s flashlight shone across the walls and my eyes tried to penetrate the deep darkness without success. We waited with baited breath. There was only the sound of our breathing and the drip of some infernal water down one of the passages. Ten seconds passed. Twenty. A minute. Then it came.

“What do you want?”