Then you’ll have a clear line while they’re busy killing me.
My wolf snarls at the thought.That’s not funny.
It wasn’t a joke.Patrick turns his head to look at me. His amber eyes hold mine through the bond.If things go wrong, get the prisoners and run. Don’t wait for me.
No.
Caelan—
I said no.I bare my teeth at him.We go home together or not at all. That’s the deal.
Something passes between us. An understanding. A promise. He presses his muzzle against mine for just a moment. The contact sends warmth through the bond, and I hold on to that feeling as he pulls away.
Don’t do anything heroic, I tell him.
Wouldn’t dream of it.
Patrick breaks from cover and starts down the slope toward the bunker. I watch him prowl across the open ground. His posture is relaxed. Non-threatening. Just a Thornridge wolf returning home after a long absence. Nothing to see here.
The guards snap to attention when they spot him. Confusion shows in their body language. One of them trots forward, and I recognize him from Patrick’s descriptions. Jonas. Reddish-brown fur. Lean build. He carries himself like someone still trying to prove he belongs.
Patrick and Jonas face each other. I can’t hear what passes between them because he’s using the Thornbridge connection and not ours, but I can read the conflict in Jonas’s posture. His ears flatten against his skull. Then they prick forward. Then they flatten again. Patrick is getting through to him.
A howl shatters the silence behind us.
I whip around. A Thornridge patrol is bearing down on our position from the north. Five wolves. Maybe six. They must have circled back and caught our scent.
Go!Patrick’s voice tears through my mind.Get the prisoners! I’ll handle Jonas!
The patrol crashes into us before I can respond.
A gray wolf lunges for my throat. I twist aside and sink my teeth into his shoulder. The taste of blood floods my mouth. He yelps and tries to shake me off, but I hold on and wrench my head sideways. Flesh tears. He screams. Deon finishes him with a bite to the neck.
More wolves pour into the clearing. I lose count of how many. I lose track of everything except the next enemy in front of me.
A brown wolf catches my flank. Pain screams through my hindquarters. I spin and rake my claws across his muzzle before he can deepen his grip. Blood sprays across the rocks before he falls back with a howl.
Trenton goes down somewhere to my left. I hear him yelp and then snarl and then go silent. I can’t stop to help him. A black wolf is already going for my throat, and it takes everything I have to twist away in time.
The bunker!Reeyan yells through the chaos.Caelan, go now! We’ll hold them!
I run.
The slope blurs beneath my paws. My wounded flank screams with every stride, but I push through the pain. Jonas is gone from his post when I reach the bunker entrance. The other guard lies motionless in the dirt. His throat has been torn out.
I plunge through the doorway without slowing.
The smell hits me immediately. Blood. Fear. Sweat. The sour stench of captivity. I shift to human form as I descend thestairs. Cold concrete bites at my bare feet. Emergency lighting paints everything in shades of red and shadow.
“Thea!” I scream. “Liman! Fiona!”
“Caelan?” The response is weak and hoarse, but I know that voice. “Is that you?”
I follow the sound to a row of cells carved into the rock. Thea reaches her arm through the bars. Her face is bruised and gaunt, but her eyes are clear. She’s alive. She’s alive.
Relief hits me so hard my knees almost buckle.
“I’m getting you out.” I examine the lock. It’s heavy steel and industrial grade. “I need to find a key.”
