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Warning:
This chapter may contain a few graphic scenes

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"We'll get there soon. Take care of the first set then the next." Luke reminded, and Sage shivered at the idea of what else was down here.

"Find more?"

"Sure we will. Think this is the front line to trespassers." Sage nodded and sent a smile to another male—Who returned it with a flash of his yellowed teeth.

"They get good food, warm good food. Clean water. Clothes. Bath and—"

"And they will, but it's late and things are going slow. If that pup wanted to speak up, she could've done it before." Sage couldn't deny what her brother was saying, but who wanted to talk to the Crescent Moon traitors any more than they had to?

And they couldn't, not before the trial anyway.

Jackson, on the other hand, was sorting through the locked cabinets to see if they missed anything. And in true Jack fashion, he pulled up a rather long rod—One that had two small bars at the end, suggesting that it was a taser of some sort.

"Starting to get the picture..." Jackson whispered, but his eyes burned at the idea of his dad once again. Maybe he should've gone with Eli when he asked to head back topside with him, because this was starting to wane in his heart.

In his moment of weakness, the male accidentally dropped the Taser onto the rack. Given his aggravation, he didn't give much care to how he put it back—Yet the sound that it had admitted was similar to the bell, though this time, even Andrew and those in Half Crescent were starting to wither.

It was Hayes that silenced the machine, and Jackson had stood in awe as to what happened in mere seconds and had caused nearly half the room to crumble.

Not only that, but the hatred in the Deformed's eyes had caused his knees to buckle. He shook his head, giving up his search and closing the locker as he went forward to the Alpha and the rest of his group.

Granted, they were now huddled up towards the other cave entrance. Sage's prediction of them protecting what was off in that direction remained to be proven, but even now it was being supported.

Jackson had taken the long strides and found himself on his knees, a position that a Delta male would rarely find. And so he reciprocated the same greeting that he caught the other's turn to show Sage.

"No more." He promised, and the scarred faces all remained reserved. Clearly having heard those words before and suffered the consequences of believing in said promise.

When Jack's eyes had turned to Sage's, the female was still feeling around her neck at the near tension of thinking a collar was strapped.

That's what the sound mimicked, and those around her certainly faced that sort of torture before.

And Jackson had never felt more shameful for not being more careful of his actions.

The Deformed wolves had nearly pounced at the reveal of the sound of a cart headed their way. But the mixed scents of the male's mated females made it a familiar introduction for them to process, but Sage knew that Remus would not be allowed down here, not when he held the title of Alpha—And she wondered for a brief moment if her not being mated allowed her to move freely.

A stand-in Luna seemingly had more freedom, or maybe it was more pressing than her own safety.

Had her fathers not joined them, then perhaps she would be still at the surface and saved herself from these traumatic flashbacks.

Instead, she stood beside the rest of the females and passed out the water, helping to clean them up with a fresh rag. Pouring out the warm broth and breaking up the pieces of bread.

Kenzie had taken the time to go through the males and took notes furiously as Sage stood by the sidelines and nodded to the makeshift Alpha.

With the male's spirits lifted, it was now to regroup and figure out how to handle the rest of this cavern while also keeping contact with those above.

"We need runners. Remus will start breaking through the barrier if we don't keep him up to date." Andrew reminded, and Hayes nodded along.

"I would want to know where my daughter is. Liam, are you and your mate up for it?" The Elwood brother nodded with a proud huff at the sense of being picked for the task.

"Alright, we need more supplies like this cart. Kenzie?" Andrew followed up and she agreed, her quick-paced speaking had caught the attention of the Deformed and Sage smiled. Perhaps they were focused on their own instincts just the same, if not more, because of the hunger and state they were left in.

"We have to hurry, they don't look good and there is more cave." Sage's reminder had pushed those in motion. And once again she was being pushed further into the cave, but this time they had the addition of her fathers, the Deformed and Andrew.

"Picking up on any thoughts, Sage?" She huffed towards Blake, she couldn't feel either the Deformed or those beside her. Sage still felt worried about the quality of the water, wondering if that Clakitie can be reduced to water.

But she would ask later, as the horror had not been finished to be introduced.

"Get the females down NOW!" Sage roared, and the movement scrambling in front of her didn't waste another moment before ripping off the cage's hinges and being absolutely delicate to lift the bare females.

But coming towards the first cage, the body appeared to be too cold—too pale.

Creating their first casualty that Sage had turned away with tears threatening to come forward.

Thankfully the Deformed had understood the plan and continued to move forward to work with their allies and rip the hinges off, huffing towards the other males and motioning.

"We need more hands?" Sage questioned and Hayden had turned to his daughter, having a young female in his arms—One that clung to him with all the strength she could muster.

They were much more coherent than the males, not Deformed in any way that he could see at the moment, but just as beaten and starved.

"Might need some more, but they seem to want the females safe too." He claimed, nicking his head forward to see that the Alpha was leaning against one of the cage walls to encase a female in his arms.

"Mate?" Sage questioned, and the raw emotion on the Alpha's face had answered everything that need to be spoken.

Though when a female had been pronounced dead, a howl of pain nearly decimated the cave's walls.

The echoing hadn't bounced as freely as the other room, but just the idea of multiple cages just wide enough for the females to hang sent another shiver down Sage's spine.
The height of the chains was just enough that they couldn't rest their body weight on their feet.

Andrew knew that the female in his arm had battered wrists, no doubt broken or at the very least dislocated.
However, when a male had panickily taken her from his hold, he understood—He knew that look of desperation.
The loss of awareness for anything else.

Andy nearly felt the same seeing Sage inside one of the cells, as though trying to feel the point of view of those imprisoned.

"Female drink water, look." She claimed, turning over her shoulder as she knew that Andrew was just a step behind. "We can survive without food for a while, water is—"

"Three, three, three." She repeated, and Leo, who was passing by with a bundle of clothes and blankets had come forward to bless her with a kiss.

"Three weeks food, three days water, and three minutes for air. That a girl." She hummed in recognition of her adoptive father's proud tone, and Hayes wrapped an arm around her—A subtle move to get out of the small boxed cell.

His wolf was growing aggravated at the thought that Sage was breathing the same air.

"Cave keeps going, sir! I think we need to regroup upstairs before we keep going. Get more tech—Hell, can we drill a hole down—" Sage turned up to think about Luke's suggestion and perked her lips.

But Blake had caught her hands before they could twitch in action. "Not a good idea hun, digging straight down or up isn't a good strategy. Could be a house above us." She nodded, realizing that it wouldn't be the best idea.

"More cave?" She asked, but her father had nudged her in a reminder as to the order they planned for. "We need to move the ones we found first hun, we'll get there. Not to worry." Hayes explained, and Sage did her best to carry one of the females herself.

Even Sage's higher-ranked females were all carrying or aiding one of the many captives toward the beginning of the tunnel.

Thankfully, they made a decent path in starting to light the beginning bits, and in remembrance of how Georige or John had responded to light, it caused Sage to try and shield the weakened eyes of the unnamed female in her arms.

It was the combined breath of relief when the group had started to crowd the Snyder basement, and the Deformed began to look around uneasy—The same once they passed by their own former prison and continued further.

"Sage?" She couldn't see Remus over her brother's tall figures, but she weaved her way through and smiled. "Find lots of wolves." She informed, but it was clear from there—The only downside is that the Infirmary was desperately understaffed to care for the number of males and females coming from these caves.

Though the information from the last bunch—John and Georgie included—defined and aided the Infirmary on a need-to-know basis about the Depths as Kara had called it.

However as Remus came forward, the eyes of the newcomers had locked in on the scent. One that spoke of power and demanded attention, yet it wasn't the type that Remus wanted.

The Deformed's Alpha had stepped in front of Sage, his body lowering to place the female just by his feet—And it nearly confused the rest of the rescue team had Sage not caught the sheer anger or smelled the attack coming forward.

Sage did not want to put down the female in her arms, but the idea of the dozens of males attacking her mate was starting to spread panic through her mind.

It was an impulsive decision, one she didn't know the consequences of. But she had grabbed one of the many taken tools down from the caverns and sounded off the stimuli, rendering everyone—Deformed, captive, or otherwise—Down to the ground and wither.

"SAGE?!"

The combined sound of either her fathers, Remus, and Andrew hardly funneled through as the world went dark.

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Date: 05/15/23

Time: 9:34 (Dang it!!)

Words: 2002

Author's Note:

I completely forgot to mention that this chapter was a little on the graphic side. I don't like going into the gory details too much, and like to leave things to be interpreted. But meeting the Deformed and their mates is almost as dark as this story goes.
Well, besides two scenes maybe--But they are a ways to go!

I'm so scatterbrained right now, I'm working on a few different stories--
Don't want to give too much away, but here are a few hints.

○Fated Mates Series
A Brave Human Mate is a part of a Universe.
One that I plan to explore in the future, focusing on different Kingdoms & Mates

○ Unnamed Series
Focuses on a dystopia Earth set in the distant future.
Where humans escaped to the Underground, to the Depths, and to the Sky.

○Unnamed Dragon story
New girl arrives at a town with a sketchy and firey past.

Course there is the rest of the Lacking Humanity series I want to get through, but I've learned that forcing things doesn't work when it comes to writing.

Procrastination at its finest!

Anway,
 I hope you all have an amazing week and I'll see you for Friday's update✨