The Cave of Deception

The Cave of Deception
Paige

I only carried one bag with me, a couple of shirts and shorts stuffed inside, along with my tarot cards, as I walked along the winding road towards home. Sneaking out of the packhouse had been more complicated than I expected. Even with Nyte and Madilyn in the meeting, I caught more than a few curious stares as I made my way to the door, trying to appear as natural as possible.

The real test of my stealth was avoiding Katya and Chase, who were speaking just off to the side of the house. Part of me wanted to find out what they were discussing. I still didn’t trust Chase entirely, and given his apparent lack of respect for Katya, I couldn’t help but wonder what they could be talking about alone outside. However, I was too furious with Nyte to care at that moment. I just wanted to get home to my mom and tell her everything that had happened, all the way back to the beginning.

I craved her comfort, her promise that everything would be okay—that this moment wouldn’t become the foundation of my future with Nyte. Heaven help me, I still wanted to be with him. I still loved him with everything I had, and I knew I would forgive him when the anger passed. Maybe I’d even be able to trust him again. But for now, I needed some space away from him.

As I watched lizards scurry across the road and seagulls fly overhead, squawking to one another in their search for food along the beach, I realized it was going to be a long walk back to my part of the peninsula. But I didn’t mind. I was used to walking home from my job, and although this was a far longer trek, I could manage it just fine. “Wouldn’t have to be walking at all if I’d found Nyte’s car keys,” I groaned, kicking a rock along the path.

Luckily, my chucks were on, making the walk much more manageable than if I had to wear my flip-flops, which would have likely broken before I reached the cemetery. I turned my head at the sound of an approaching car, frowning as an unfamiliar vehicle began to slow to a stop beside me.

“What in the hell are you doing out here?” Katya asked, lifting her sunglasses and looking at me with a disgusted smirk.

I rolled my eyes and returned to my stride as she inched her car alongside me. “None of your business, Katya. Just go on about whatever you’re doing, and I’ll do the same.”

“You really don’t get how a pack works,” Katya snarked. “Just because we fight doesn’t mean we won’t help each other out. And you were right; I don’t have a future as Nyte’s Luna. He isn’t even going to be Alpha now, so none of that stuff matters. But as his mate, you are technically pack, so I can’t exactly leave you on the side of the road now that I’ve seen you out here.”

I looked at her, my eyebrow raised suspiciously. “You were literally ready to rip me apart earlier today.”

“Yeah? I’m ready to rip my sister apart every morning, but she’s still my sister.” She pulled the car up ahead of me, turning to block my path before getting out of the car. “Listen, I’m already in hot water for picking fights with you in front of the kids. If anyone finds out that I left you to walk to wherever the hell it is you think you are going, then I run the risk of exile. So, how about you help a girl out and get in the car? I’ll take you wherever you need to go.” She held up three fingers, smiling. “Scout’s honor.”

I groaned, dismissing my best judgment as I looked down the road, realizing just how far I had to go. I barely could see the cemetery entrance from here, and my family’s home was all the way up by the Sunset Cliffs. “Fine,” I submitted.

Katya smiled, her eyes glistening like the ocean as they caught the sunlight. “Good! I knew you couldn’t be all that bad.”

I snorted, walking around her car and sliding into the passenger seat. I dropped my bag at my feet, fastening my seat belt as she checked her lipstick in the rearview mirror before pulling back onto the road.

“I’m just going to my parents’ house,” I told her. “You can drop me off at the Sunset Cliffs. I can walk from there.”

“Oh, how fun!” she cheered. “I was meeting up with a friend there! He loves the sights in the peninsula area and told me I had to come to see them for myself.”

I frowned, looking her up and down. She wasn’t exactly dressed for the cliffs, but I didn’t say anything. Maybe this friend of hers was a rebound date to get her mind off Nyte and her delusions of grandeur at his side. I was sure she just wanted to look her best for this date, even if the location and her outfit didn’t exactly match up.

“Yeah,” I continued the conversation, not wanting to ride in a quiet car with her. “The cliffs are beautiful. Tourists love them, so it gets crowded, especially at sunset. But come nightfall, that’s the best time to be there.”

“You go there often?” she asked innocently, her eyes glued to the road.

“Yeah. I grew up in the area. Grandma held our coven meetings there when I was a kid. Human cops intervened, however. They told us we needed to have a permit if we had more than a certain number of people gathering there after dark. So, Ama opened her own shop with a big warehouse in the back, and that’s where they meet now.”

“Humans are ridiculous with their permits to gather places,” Katya chuckled. “It’s like they see a group of people and just assume they must be up to no good. They never stop to think that someone alone with no ties to anyone or anything is the real danger.”

I looked over at Katya, enjoying this new side of her that I was seeing. She looked brighter now. And though I could tell she was gorgeous before—downright celebrity material—her ease in our conversation made her even more beautiful.

“So, this friend,” I prodded, watching her shoulder stiffen slightly at the mention of him. “Is he a friend, friend? Or is he a potential more than friend, friend?”

She giggled, sparing me a glance as she wiggled her eyebrows. “That is for me to know and you to find out.”

I joined her in laughter, shaking my head. “Well, you certainly are dressed like a girl trying to impress, so if your aim is more than friends, then you’re a sure thing.”

Her cheeks flushed, and she returned her eyes to the road as we entered the cemetery. “Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome, Katya. And thank you for picking me up. You aren’t as bad as I had thought you were.”

She smiled and shrugged. “Yeah, well, I’m a complicated girl. What can I say?”

The rest of the drive was quiet. Katya turned on the radio, and we occasionally sang along with the songs that played. I mostly stared out the window, watching the landscape and buildings blur by. The last time I had been up this way was with Nyte to attend my family’s dinner. That night had been the first time I felt like I was deceiving them with my mateship to Nyte. Every time Ama praised our pairing, a piece of me had died a little. I couldn’t enjoy my family’s joy for me because I believed it was all fake.

I sighed under my breath, the music on the radio drowning out my thoughts as Katya sang along at the top of her lungs. Why couldn’t Nyte have just been honest with me?

I knew the cards had been vague when they pointed me in his direction, but that came with the territory of premonitions and fortune-telling. The powers often enjoyed sending you on a quest without all the facts. But Nyte was different. He should have trusted me with the truth. You weren’t ready to know. That was what he had told me. Who the hell was he to decide what I was prepared for? I wasn’t a child. I’d helped to save people with my visions. I wasn’t fragile to crazy news—not with the things I’d witnessed just by closing my eyes. So what made him believe I wasn’t ready to know the truth about him being my mate?

I sat a little straighter in my seat, my eyes widening as another thought surfaced. How long exactly had he known? I had been so angry up till now that I assumed he had known since I approached him with the idea of faking it. But he had to have known before then. Werewolves could smell the bond the moment it fell into place, and Nyte had practically lived at my home until then. When exactly did he know that I was his mate?

The car began to slow and turn, the change in speed pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked around and immediately recognized the parking lot to the cliffs and beach.

I smiled at Katya, gathering my bag and reaching for the door handle. “Thank you for the ride,” I said.

“Wait!” She gasped, grabbing my arm to keep me from leaving the car.

I looked back at her, confused, raising my brows. “What?”

“I have no idea where he wanted to meet. You said you come here a lot. Just help me find the meeting spot, and then you can go. I helped you. Now you help me.”

I sighed, rolling my eyes as I nodded. “Alright, alright. I’ll help you. Where did he say to meet him?”

Katya’s face brightened with an Academy Award-winning smile, clapping her hands together excitedly. “Yay! Thank you!” She grabbed her phone, pulling up the message, and read it aloud. “Meet me at the sea caves. I’ll be just inside.”

“Of course,” I sighed, opening the car door and getting out. “I know where to go. It’s as big an attraction as the cliffs themselves. Come on; I’ll show you.”

“You are such a lifesaver! I’m so glad I didn’t leave you on the side of the road.” Katya laughed, meeting me on the passenger side of the car and linking her arm with mine. “It’s too bad we got off to such a rough start. I can see us being great friends.”

I laughed, leading the way to the path towards the sea caves. The area was surprisingly bare of people. Only a few tourists passed us, making their way up the path. I could hear a few grumblings about the sea caves being closed, frowning as I looked back at them. The sea caves only closed at high tide, and the tide wasn’t high at this time. So why would they think they were closed?

I looked back at Katya, who was smiling and admiring the scenery, completely ignoring the humans as they passed us.

“Hey,” I said, her gaze moving back to mine. “Are you sure he said the sea caves?”

“Yeah?” she pulled up her phone, showing me the message from her friend. “See. Why do you ask?”

I shook my head and shrugged. “Those humans back there seemed pissed, talking about the caves being closed off.”

“Oh, yeah,” she giggled, covering her mouth. “I think he set up some fake police tape so we could have the place to ourselves. How sweet is that?”

“Kind of sounds illegal,” I grumbled, feeling bad for the tourists who most likely would never get another chance to revisit this spot.

“All the best gestures are,” Katya sang in a sing-song voice. “Trust me, it’s romantic.”

I chuckled nervously, looking around at the empty path. “I’ll take your word for it, Katya.” My stomach began to roll the closer we got to the cave. A voice in my head screamed for me to run while waving a bright red flag. Something didn’t feel right.

“How do you know this guy?” I asked Katya, eyeing the opening to the cave warily.

“Hmm?” she hummed, looking at me. “Oh, he has been coming around the packhouse a lot lately. We just got to talking and bonding over some issues we shared, and before you know it, we hit it off.”

An image of Katya and Chase outside of the packhouse appeared in my mind, my heart spiking and my breathing quickening before I could control my emotions. Katya looked at me, and her smile dissolved into the same hateful glare she had given me since we first met. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, I give up.”

She grabbed me by my arm, pulling it behind my back forcefully, forcing a cry to ring from my lips. Her other hand clamped down over my mouth, hissing curses under her breath.

“Shut the hell up, or I’ll roll you the rest of the way down the path. And don’t even think about using your magic on me.” She held out her hand, showing off a dark metal ring on her thumb, clear quartz and runes decorating the band. “This little baby will just suck your magic right up. So, it’s not even worth your effort to try.”

I cursed into her hand, biting at her palm as she shoved me forward. As much as I wanted to struggle harder, the threat of her rolling me down the path kept me obedient. The last thing I wanted was to risk my unborn child’s life, and a roll along this rocky path would undoubtedly end my pregnancy just as I learned of its existence.

“Get in there,” Katya growled as we reached the end of the path, shoving me at the opening of the rocks.

I stumbled over my feet, her hands releasing me as I fell to my knees, my eyes locking onto a pair of black dress shoes, so out of place on the landscape they stood on.

“Hello there, Little Riding Hood.” My eyes widened at the voice, instantly recognizing the dark laugh of my stalker all those nights ago at this very beach. “I told you I’d find you.”