They exchange nervous glances, fingers twitching on their triggers. One of them, a beta with a patchy beard and wild eyes, spits on the ground.
"He ain't here," he says, his voice carrying a ring of truth.
I can taste the fear rolling off them. These aren't soldiers. They're grunts. Scavenging dogs who've grown hardy on the scraps their master throws them. Without him, they're just men with guns and no purpose.
"I find that hard to believe," I respond, continuing my approach. "This is his territory, is it not?"
The second grunt, younger and clearly more nervous, steps back. "Look, man, we don't want any trouble. Like he said, Vlakov ain't here. None of us have seen him since..."
He trails off, glancing toward the pit, then at the devastation around us.
Since whatever happened here. Since whatever storm tore through this place and left it in ruins.
My patience is wearing thinner. "Then take me to whoever's in charge in his stead."
The men look at each other again, some unspoken communication passing between them. The bearded one jerks his chin toward a building behind me.
"That would be me," a voice calls out.
I turn to see an alpha emerging from one of the few intact structures. She's tall even for an alpha, with close-cropped hair and scars curving up from the corners of her lips. She leans on a makeshift walking stick, her right leg bound in bloodied bandages just above the knee. Despite her injury, she carries herself with the easy confidence of someone accustomed to being obeyed.
So does the dog with black-and-brown fur loping after her, tail wagging high and proud.
"And you are?" I ask, studying her with cold detachment.
"Name's Lex." She hobbles closer, each step punctuated by a wince she tries to hide. "Who the fuck wants to know?"
I holster my weapon, a calculated risk. "Commander of the Reinmich Special Forces."
It's only a partial lie. I command them, yes, but they do not have my true loyalty. Neither does my homeland.
Onlyshewields that.
Lex's eyes narrow, recognition flickering across her features. "Well, fuck. So you're the soldier boy she was always going on about comin' after her."
The words hit their mark.
My heart stutters.
Was.
Past tense.
Before I can think better of it, my weapon is in my hand again, leveled at Lex's head. The other grunts raise their guns in response, but I ignore them. They're nothing. Insects. The only one of them who matters at the moment is the merc in front of me, and only because she might have information.
The dog bares its teeth, positioning itself between me and its master. The messy fur along its spine bristles as it snaps at the air.
"Where is she?" The words scrape from my throat, rough with an emotion I rarely allow myself to feel.
Fear.
Lex doesn't even blink at the gun pointed at her face. Instead, she barks out a harsh laugh that sounds just like her dog. The dog at her side barks, too, gleaming brown eyes trained on my gun.
"Relax, Commander. If she's dead, no one here had shit to do with it."
The world tilts beneath my feet, but I lock my knees, refusing to show weakness.
No. She is alive. I know she is.
