The brewery was a collection of four barn-like structures with high ceilings and few openings. There were no missing bricks in the walls, and all the glass panes in the windows were intact. The trees stood well back and gravel-covered a wide swatch of earth around the buildings, yet there was a sense of abandonment around the distillery.
Unrelenting darkness covered everything; not a single creature stirred. There was no hum of machinery, and the chimneys jutted smokeless into the night sky. Here and there, a brave weed or two reared their crowns through the stones.
Each with an arm around Brent, they walked him to the nearest building, heading for the entrance in the middle.
"Here, lean him against the wall," Eri suggested.
They propped the Afro-Canadian against the wall, but Brent grunted, his knees shaking, and then he was sinking. Ethan grabbed him before he hit the floor. The shivering Lycan only wore a fleece hoodie against the fall chill, but sweat had soaked through the thick material, just like Ethan's sweatshirt.
"I'll hold him. Get the door open," Ethan suggested, leaning Brent against him. The tall boy gripped his shoulders for support, his breathing heavy and harsh against Ethan's ears.
Eri's forehead also glistened in the moonlight. He checked the door; there was no handle and no obvious way to open it with a key.
"Let me find another way in." He jogged off, glancing up at the windows, which now seemed too high.
He disappeared around the corner, and a few moments later, the tinkling sound of glass breaking pierced through the air. Then silence.
Just as Ethan began to worry that the slender Lycan may have knocked himself out, there was a thud from inside and the loud screeching of metal rubbing against metal as the door swung outwards.
Eri grunted as he pushed, but the reinforced door opened less than a foot and then refused to budge. He stepped back and then rammed into the barrier. Once. Twice. Thrice. Each time the heavy barricade groaned under the impact and inched forward until there was just enough space for one person to slip in.
Ethan watched Eri, who stood a foot shorter than him and just as much in width.
I probably wouldn't have been able to crack that door open by myself.
The other Lycan stepped out, and together they heaved Brent onto his feet. But before entering, Ethan swabbed some sweat off his neck and rubbed it on the outside of the door. Eri raised an eyebrow at him, questioning.
"One of my teachers is a tracker. He'll raise hell if he can't find me."
They moved Brent inside and sat him against the wall. He was breathing freely now, but his eyes were still shut.
There was nothing else to do but to wait. If Brent completed his transformation here, Ethan could only pray that between him and Eri, they could hold him long enough till the vanguards came back.
Eri yanked on the door, but it would not close all the way.
"Leave it," Ethan ordered. "We don't want to end up stuck in here anyway."
The werewolf shrugged and went to check on Brent while he took stock of their surroundings. The building was primarily empty, with pipes running up one side and across the ceiling. A small square opening streamed moonlight through onto the broken shards on the floor.
That was how Eri got in.
Ethan walked to the door to stare out into the night. For a while, the world around them was quiet, with nothing but crickets chirping. Then Eri came over to stand by him, sniffing.
YOU ARE READING
Blooded Mate
Fantasy[[MATURE CONTENT]] Pack, family, mate. Loyalty, respect, honor. These are the words that form the foundation of the wolf society. At six years old, Ethan had to choose between his Alpha title and his survival on the night of his father's death. As a...
