Claimed By The Mistborne Alpha Chapter 36: Plummet

"Do you really an that?" He asked , desperation creeping up and threading through his voice.

I nodded hard and fast. "Yes, Valden. I an that."

For the first ti since the alarms had started ringing out, a small smile crossed his face, fleeting but at least genuine. He bent his head, touching his forehead against mine and the parts of that had started to go hollow, filled with his warmth. If only the world outside the infirmary didn’t exist.

"I know how we can get out of here undetected," he whispered urgently. "But you have to stay by my side the entire ti, okay?"

My heart stuttered in anticipation. "But...what about the Varcolacs?"

He pulled back and his eyes darted towards the distant chaos that was still looming outside the walls. "Maeve, there is no way a Varcolac can enter the do unless one of them followed the Lycans in, during their monthly visit to the mist. And today is not that day. This is obviously a distraction and soone has deliberately let in the Varcolacs sohow."

I frowned. "Why would soone do that?"

"Because Darek and the other Alphas and the elitists, and everyone else at Parthenn are not what they seem. They’ve been using us, keeping secrets from us, and exploiting us for sothing much bigger than what we know. They’ve been threatening to work for them just like they do to the other Lycans but I’ve had enough. And once we’re out of here, I’ll explain more, but first, we need to escape."

"That doesn’t explain the distraction, Valden."

"Let’s just get out of here first, Maeve, that’s all that matters right now," he said firmly, cutting off with a sharp look.

Suddenly I wasn’t so sure if what I was doing was the right thing. I had chosen to trust Valden, trust the one person who had stood by since I was a little girl. I had believed him and stood by him my entire life until he left for Parthenn. I had believed in him more than anyone else. But nothing made sense anymore.

Valden led out the sa door that Darek and the other guards had stord out of and I made the mistake of looking back down to the end of the hall.

Darek stood, facing away from the both of us, his attention completely on the two Varcolacs in front of him. Guards littered the floor, bloodied and bruised and a few stayed behind Darek in their wolf forms.

His Alpha gear was splattered with blood and black mist curled out of his right palm, trying to keep the creatures at bay as he used his weapon with the other hand, but his face looked strained. Even he looked like he was losing the battle. But then he shifted into his wolf form like lightning and then everything else was a blur as he drove headfirst into the Varcolac, baring his canines and letting out a harsh growl.

Valden nudged from the side, and for a second, I feared that Darek would see leave or find my scent, finish off the Varcolac in seconds, and catch up to to chain away again. Make relive sothing terrible again to surge my powers. I stumbled over the ruined walls as I was pulled forward, everything a re haze that passed by in a blur.

But then we were running and sprinting down hallways until the distant sounds of the Varcolacs seed like a dead whisper. We reached the farthest corner of the building with words hung over a battered and rusted tal door, illuminated in the faintest red.

’Ergency Exit’.

The door seed to be jamd in and it creaked as Valden pushed against it, the tal too resistant to his efforts. He stepped back and then ran forward again and ramd his shoulder against it with a grunt of effort. A few more tis and it managed to creak open as dust rained from the sides and hinges.

"Are you sure this is really safe?" I whispered trying to peer out over his shoulder. "I feel like anyone could co this way especially with all the Varcolacs around."

"Trust , no one uses this anymore. They have other ergency exits on the other side of the building. They only use this door for cargo loading and that too rarely. This is our path."

He moved aside and I finally peered out the door and realised he was right. A long, slick cargo slide ran from the door and stretched down into the darkness. The end of the slide was lost in shadows and the dark and I wondered how long it was. My stomach knotted tight.

"Trust ," Valden repeated again, the sa thing I was trying to convince myself. His eyes raked across my face, looking for any signs of fear or doubt, and then he extended his right hand towards .

I hesitated for a second before I inhaled deeply and placed my hand in his as he closed his fingers around them, waiting a bit longer to let co to terms with what I was about to do. My mind blared warnings while I desperately tried to shut them down.

There was no way Darek would forgive for what I was about to do. If he found again, he might probably kill and Valden too after making sure the bond disintegrates. There was no going back after I went down this path.

I took a deep breath, readying myself to step off the precipice, and swung myself onto the slide with Valden stepping in right behind . The slide shuddered beneath our weights and I let go before I changed my mind. The tal was cold underneath , but sohow it felt too hot, as if the dark room surrounding was a furnace that had been used recently.

We both plumted down into the darkness.