The tunnel went on for quite some time, however; they didn’t find it’s end. There were other doors and Ty decided not to open them until later, after they found out how far the tunnels went. The problem was that the tunnels now branched and continued. He wouldn’t be surprised if they’d walked several miles already. It was a wonder that no one found these tunnels when they built anything above ground. He did not know where these tunnels went or ended. But if Jack used these tunnels to escape, Ty would follow them. Since there were footprints in the gray dust on the floor, it made sense to follow them. Jack, probably in his haste to escape and abandon the pack to whatever or whoever did this, didn’t think about the tracks he left behind. There were a lot of them, and they all followed the same route. “We need to turn back; my phone’s memory is full. I need to get out of here to save the files, and we might want to eat while we’re at it.” Eat, rest, and

“Ty, are you sure we can’t go down there with you? I doubt very much that Jack is still wandering around those tunnels or any of the wolves that left with him.” Rose implored Ty to go into the tunnels. She found that her curiosity and imagination were running rampant. There were more questions than answers right now, and time was ticking away. They needed answers right away. It took over an hour to feed everyone and get them back to work. They didn’t have enough volunteers to have real shifts for the people. The darkness after the sun went down would force them to stop working and start again once the sun rose. The damage to the packhouse and surrounding area without the tunnels was too dangerous to work in the dark. “Honey, no. I wouldn’t be able to do what I need to if you were down there. I’d be worried about you and your safety. We think it’s safe, but we aren’t completely sure as we go further down in the tunnel.” They all knew what Ty said was true, b

He was about to enter the tunnel when his phone rang. “Hold it everyone. I must get this. It’s the town hall’s office number. I must take this. It’s probably something wrong with the paperwork.” It would be just his luck that they rejected his application for some obscure reason in the bit to be the town protector. “Hello?” “Alpha Randell. I’m so happy to have reached you. It’s Kelly Long over at town hall.” Ty knew exactly who she was. Kelly was a member of the Blue Dalia Pack, and they knew each other growing up. She worked as a clerk in the town hall’s office. Her job was to manage all the official paperwork for the town. “Hey, Kelly, what’s wrong? Do I need to put out a fire or two?” “Well, that’s what I’m calling you about. There’s no fire at all. Well, except that the time’s passed for submissions for the position of town protector and there were only two applicants. You and Jack were the only two.” Kelly’s voice hinted at what everyone knew already.

Ty divided up the group of wolves with him and they set about dividing up the gear. They discussed the strategies they’d use going into the Icehouse. The place was enormous with three floors. Two were underground. The deepest used to hold ice, the second food that preserved better with cold, and finally the ground floor where they stored food and things that need a cool location. It didn’t take as long as Ty thought it would. Everyone appeared to be eager to get these things under way. He and several others moved silently through the woods between the cleverly hidden tunnel entrance and the entrance to the Icehouse. It only had one entrance because the place was so old, but it was large with a door hanging off it’s upper hinge on one side and the other door was missing completely from the other side. If anyone saw the building, it looked like it was a low barn that was abandoned and left to rot. Everything was dark, even with all the holes in the walls and

Every wolf with Ty heard the growl, and instantly, every single head turned to the darkened portal. The growl came from within the darkness. Only a cornered animal would make such a threatening sound. But it was but one voice, one nonhuman voice. The great question now was it a shifter growl or a beast growling? Ty hoped it was Jack and they could finally have it out between the two of them. Have it done and over with? One less mess to deal with. One less thing weighing around his neck like some anchor stone that’s hanging over the side of a boat waiting for his one wrong move to pull him down into the watery depths. Ty shifted again into his wolf. He wouldn’t be caught unawares by whatever it was. Ty’s men swung their lights toward the sound and the green lights settle on a wasted she-wolf chained to the wall in the darkened room. Ty crept closer for a look. The she-wolf wasn’t in the best of care. He couldn’t believe she was alive down here in this