We were changing. All of us.
Rowan had been the catalyst for that change.
Leaving New Arca meant more than crossing a border. It meant shedding the rigid structures that shaped us and learning how to lead something living instead of commanded. Being a unit captain was easy. Orders, hierarchy, and obedience. Being a pack leader would require trust, balance, and restraint. I would have to adapt as much as they did.
Whatever we were becoming, I would learn how to lead them.
Chapter 26: Rowan
“It’s here somewhere,” Cade said, frustration cutting through his usually steady tone.
“How exactly did you lose an entire safe house?” I asked lightly.
Cade shot me a look sharp enough to draw blood. I caught the twitch of his hand and smiled to myself, knowing I was probably going to get spanked for that later, but poking the bear had become addictive. I now understood why Ryker enjoyed it so much.
“I didn’t lose it,” Cade snapped. “It’s an underground bunker. We found it on a mission years ago and kept it secret in case of an emergency. There’s snow on the ground. I’m trying to find the hatch. You can help if you’d like.”
“We’ll fan out,” Ryker said. “Kitten, you’re with me.”
He laced his fingers through mine before I could argue and tugged me along.
We spread across the clearing, dragging our boots through the snow, scraping and kicking at the ground. Minutes passed with nothing but the crunch of ice and the low whistle of windthrough the trees.
Then Talon’s voice rang out from the far side.
“Over here!”
We converged on his position as he stamped the ground hard. The sound that answered back was unmistakable. Hollow and metallic.
“Found it,” he said, already dropping to his knees to clear the snow away from the buried hatch.
Suddenly, something crashed behind us.
The sound was violent and sudden, snapping the air apart.
Killian roared, thunderously loud, stealing the breath from my lungs. My heart stopped beating.
Everything happened at once.
Talon shifted mid-step and launched himself toward the noise. Ryker yanked me back against his chest, turning his body into a shield as Cade spun toward Killian, weapon raised.
I tried to see past Ryker’s shoulder and gasped.
Killian was on the ground.
A massive wolf loomed over him, jaws snapping inches from his face. Killian had one arm braced against the beast’s chest, muscles straining as it lunged again and again, trying to tear into him.
Talon shifted and hit the wolf like a battering ram.
The impact threw both of them across the snow. They rolled apart and came up circling each other, teeth bared, hackles raised, low warning growls vibrating through the clearing.
The other wolf lunged.
They crashed together in a blur of fur and motion, teeth clashing, bodies slamming hard enough to shake the ground.
Cade and Killian moved to assist, but they never made it.
Two more wolves burst from the treeline.
