[ARIA'S POV]

Elena led me deeper into the forest, away from the stream and into territory I'd never seen before.

"Stay close," she whispered. "And step where I step. There are traps around here."

"Traps?" My exhausted brain struggled to process that. "Who sets traps in the middle of the forest?"

"Rogues. Hunters. Paranoid pack wolves." She hopped over a pile of leaves that looked identical to every other pile. "This is the Forbidden Forest for a reason. Most wolves who come in here don't come back out."

Great. That was comforting.

But I followed her anyway, mimicking her steps as best I could. My feet screamed with every step. My whole body felt like one giant bruise.

We need real rest, my wolf said. Soon. Or we'll collapse.

I knew. I could feel my energy draining with each passing minute. The transformation had taken everything out of me, and I hadn't exactly recovered before running for my life.

"How much farther?" I asked, hating how weak my voice sounded.

"Not far. Maybe another ten minutes."

Ten minutes. I could manage ten minutes. I had to.

We walked in silence, Elena occasionally stopping to sniff the air or listen for sounds I couldn't hear yet. She moved with the practiced ease of someone who'd spent years surviving in hostile territory. Every step was deliberate. Every movement is efficient.

I tried to copy her grace and failed miserably. I stumbled over roots, nearly walked face-first into a low branch, and made enough noise to wake every creature within a mile.

Elena glanced back at me, sympathy flickering across her face. "You'll get better. Wolf senses take time to adjust to."

"How long?"

"Depends. Most wolves have years to learn. You're doing a crash course in survival." She ducked under a fallen log. "But you're alive. That's what matters."

Fair point.

"How long have you been out here?" I asked quietly, needing the distraction from my aching body.

"Two years. Since I was fifteen." She didn't look back, but her shoulders tensed. "Got banished from the Clearwater Pack for refusing an arranged mating. Alpha said I was too defiant. Too stubborn."

My chest tightened. "That's not a reason to banish someone."

Elena laughed, but there was no humor in it. "It is when the Alpha's son is the one you refused. Apparently, rejecting the future Alpha's claim is a crime worthy of exile."

Another wolf was cast out for refusing to be controlled. Another life destroyed by pack politics and male ego.

"I'm sorry," I said softly.

"Don't be." She glanced back, her blue eyes hard as ice. "Best thing that ever happened to me. I'd rather be free and hungry than caged and comfortable. Out here, I answer to no one. Do what I want. Go where I please."

I understood that more than she knew. Even after just a few hours, I understood it completely.

We pushed through a thick wall of thorny bushes. Elena showed me a hidden gap I never would have found alone, and we emerged into a small clearing.

A crude shelter stood in the center. More of a lean-to than a real structure, built from branches and bark and scavenged materials. But it had walls and a roof, which was more than I'd had last night.

"Welcome to my palace," Elena said with a slight smile. "It's not much, but it keeps the rain off and the wolves out."

I was too tired to care about aesthetics. "It's perfect."

Inside, the shelter was surprisingly organized. A pile of furs in one corner for sleeping. A small fire pit ringed with stones. Dried herbs hanging from the ceiling. A collection of scavenged items-a dented pot, a hunting knife, various tools, even a few battered books.

Elena had built herself a life out here. Alone. At fifteen.

"Sit," she ordered, pointing to the furs. "You look like you're about to fall over."

I didn't argue. I collapsed onto the furs and nearly cried at how good it felt to be off my feet. Every muscle in my body went limp with relief.

Elena knelt by the fire pit and started building a small fire with practiced efficiency. She arranged kindling, struck flint to steel, and within minutes flames crackled to life, filling the shelter with warmth and dancing light.

"Give me your feet," she said without looking up.

"What?"

"Your feet. They're bleeding all over my furs." She pulled out a small tin from a wooden box and opened it, revealing some kind of green paste that smelled like mint and something earthy. "Healing salve. It'll hurt, but it'll keep them from getting infected."

I hesitated, then slowly extended my legs. My feet were a disaster-cuts, blisters, dried blood, swollen skin. I'd been so focused on running, on surviving, that I hadn't noticed how bad it was.

Elena took one look and winced. "You walked through the Forbidden Forest in house slippers?"

"They're what I was wearing when I..." I trailed off. When I got rejected. When my entire life imploded. When I lost everything and gained everything in the same breath.

"Right." Her voice softened considerably. "Well, you're tougher than you look. Most pampered pack wolves would've given up hours ago."

She began cleaning my feet with surprisingly gentle hands. The water stung like fire. The salve burned even worse. I bit my lip hard enough to taste blood, determined not to cry out.

"I know," Elena murmured, not looking up from her work. "Almost done. Just breathe through it."

When she finished, she wrapped both feet in clean strips of cloth torn from what looked like an old shirt. "That should hold until your wolf healing kicks in properly. Being a Moon Wolf, you'll probably heal faster than most. Should be good as new by tomorrow morning."

"Thank you." The words felt inadequate. This stranger was showing me more kindness than my own pack ever had in nineteen years.

Elena shrugged and moved to the fire, pulling out a cloth-wrapped bundle. "You hungry? I have some rabbit from yesterday. It's not fresh, but it's food. Better than nothing."

My stomach growled loudly in answer.

She laughed, and this time it sounded genuine. "I'll take that as a yes."

While Elena prepared the food, I let myself relax for the first time since the rejection. The shelter was warm. Safe. Hidden from the world that wanted to use me or destroy me.

For this moment, I wasn't being hunted. Wasn't running. Wasn't in constant pain.

For this moment, I could just be.

"Can I ask you something?" Elena's voice broke the comfortable silence.

"Sure."

"What was it like? The transformation?" She stared into the fire, orange light dancing across her face. "I've been a wolf since I was thirteen. Normal shift. Expected. I can't imagine what it must have been like to go nineteen years without one and then suddenly... that."

"It hurt," I said honestly. "Like dying and being reborn at the same time. Like every piece of me was being torn apart and put back together wrong. Or maybe right for the first time."

I paused, trying to find words for something that defied language.

"But underneath the pain was something else. Power. This overwhelming feeling of finally being complete. Like I'd been half a person my whole life and didn't even know it. Like I'd been walking around with a missing piece and suddenly it clicked into place."

Elena nodded slowly, still staring at the flames. "And the Alpha King. He really rejected you? Even knowing you were his fated mate? Feeling the bond?"

The question made my chest ache. The ghost of the severed bond throbbed like a healing wound.

"He didn't know what I was when he rejected me," I said quietly. "He just saw a wolfless servant. Someone worthless. Someone who would embarrass him in front of the other Alphas."

"That's not an excuse."

"I know." I pulled my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. "He felt the mate bond. I saw it in his eyes. Saw the recognition. The shock. Maybe even desire for just a second. But then he chose politics over destiny. Choose what his council wanted over what the Moon Goddess intended."

"Do you still feel it? The bond?"

I thought about that. Really thought about it. The bond was severed-I'd accepted his rejection, broken it myself with those formal words. But there was still something there. A ghost. A shadow. An ache that wouldn't quite fade, no matter how much I wanted it to.

"Yes," I admitted. "Not like before. Not that overwhelming pull. But I can still feel where it broke. Like a scar that hasn't quite healed. Like a phantom limb that's not there anymore but still hurts."

"That's rough." Elena handed me a wooden bowl filled with shredded rabbit meat mixed with some kind of root vegetable. "But maybe it's better this way. Now you're free to choose your own path. Your own destiny. No one telling you what to do or who to be."

I took the bowl gratefully, the warmth seeping into my cold hands. "That's what everyone keeps saying. Freedom. Choice. But I don't know what my path is supposed to be. Yesterday, my biggest concern was scrubbing floors without getting hit. Now I'm some legendary wolf everyone wants to capture or kill or control."

"So make it up as you go." Elena settled across from me with her own bowl, cross-legged and relaxed. "That's what rogues do. We survive. We adapt. We become whoever we need to be. There's power in that. Real power. Not the kind of packs that give you. The kind you take for yourself."

I ate slowly, savoring each bite. The meat was tough and gamey, the vegetables slightly bitter, but it was the best thing I'd ever tasted. Or maybe I was just that hungry.

As I ate, exhaustion pulled at me like a physical weight. My eyelids grew heavy. The warmth of the fire, the full stomach, the safety of the shelter, Elena's quiet presence-it all combined to drag me toward sleep I desperately needed.

"Rest," Elena said softly when she saw me struggling to stay awake. "I'll keep watch. You're safe here. I promise."

"But the hunters-"

"Won't find this place. I've hidden here for two years. Dozens of wolves have passed within feet of here and never found it. There's old magic in these woods. It hides what wants to be hidden." She moved to the entrance, positioning herself between me and the outside world. "Sleep, Moon Wolf. You've earned it. We'll figure out the next step when you wake up."

I wanted to protest. Wanted to stay alert. Wanted to be useful instead of a burden.

But my body had other ideas.

I lay down on the furs, and the moment my head touched the soft material, sleep claimed me like a lover's embrace.

For the first time in my life, I didn't dream of the packhouse. Didn't dream of scrubbing floors or cruel voices or being invisible.

I dreamed of running through silver moonlight. Of power flowing through my veins like starlight. Of forests that stretched forever and freedom so vast and wild it took my breath away.

I dreamed of becoming someone new.

Someone powerful.

Someone who would never bow her head again.

[DAEMON'S POV]

I hadn't slept.

Couldn't sleep.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her. Silver hair glowing in the moonlight like spun starlight. Violet eyes blazing with power and rage and absolute betrayal.

"You are nothing to me."

My own words echoed in my head like a death sentence. Like a curse I'd brought down on myself.

Gods, what had I done?

I stood at the window in Alpha Gregor's guest quarters, staring out at the forest where she'd disappeared hours ago. Dawn was breaking now, painting the sky in shades of gold and pink and red. Beautiful. The world had no right to be beautiful when I'd destroyed everything.

She was out there somewhere. Alone. Hunted by wolves I'd sent after her.

Because of me.

My wolf howled in my mind, a sound of pure agony. He'd been like this since the rejection-pacing, snarling, tearing at my insides. Demanding I fix this. Demanding I find our mate and bring her back.

But I'd broken it. Shattered the bond the Moon Goddess herself had created.

There was no fixing that.

A knock at the door made me turn. "Come in."

Marcus, my Beta, entered. His face was grim, his clothes dirty from a night of searching. "Your Majesty. The search parties have returned."

My heart stopped. "And?"

"They didn't find her." He closed the door behind him. "She's either very good at hiding, or..."

"Or what?" My voice came out sharper than intended.

"Or she's already dead, Your Majesty. The Forbidden Forest isn't forgiving. Especially to wolves who don't know the territory. Who've never hunted. Never survived on their own."

My wolf snarled viciously. The thought of Aria dead, cold, and alone in the forest made my chest tighten until I couldn't breathe. Made rage and grief war inside me until I wanted to tear something apart with my bare hands.

"She's not dead," I said flatly.

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I'd feel it." Even with the bond severed, even with that connection broken, I'd feel it if she died. I was certain of that. The mate bond might be shattered, but something remained. Some thread I couldn't quite sever. "She's alive. She has to be."

Marcus was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was carefully neutral. "Permission to speak freely, Your Majesty?"

"Always." I trusted Marcus more than anyone. He'd been my father's Beta before mine. Had known me since I was a child. If anyone could be honest with me, it was him.

"You made a mistake."

The words hit like a physical blow even though I'd been expecting them. "I know."

"Do you?" His voice was harder now, dropping the careful diplomacy. "Because from where I'm standing, you rejected your fated mate-a Moon Wolf, the rarest and most powerful bloodline in existence-because she didn't look impressive enough when you first saw her."

Each word landed like a punch. "That's not why-"

"Then why?" Marcus demanded, stepping closer. His usual deference was gone, replaced by something that looked like disappointment. Maybe even disgust. "I watched you feel the mate bond snap into place. Saw your face when it happened. You wanted her. Your wolf recognized her. I saw the way you looked at her for those few seconds before you shut it down."

He moved to the window, standing beside me. "And then you threw her away like garbage because Celeste whispered poison in your ear, and your council wanted a political alliance. Because you were afraid of what the other Alphas would think."

"I'm the Alpha King," I said through gritted teeth, the title feeling like chains. "My choices affect thousands of wolves. I can't just follow my heart like some lovesick-"

"Your father would have."

That stopped me cold. Made everything inside me freeze.

"Your father," Marcus continued, his voice softer now but no less cutting, "chose your mother even though his entire council wanted him to mate with Alpha Rowan's daughter. A political alliance that would have united two of the largest territories in the realm. But he chose love over politics. Chose his fated mate over convenience."

He turned to face me fully. "And he built the strongest kingdom we've ever known precisely because your mother stood beside him as an equal partner. Because they were united. Because the mate bond made them stronger together than they ever could have been apart."

I closed my eyes. Remembered my father. Strong, wise, fair. Remembered my mother's gentle strength. How they'd looked at each other like nothing else in the world mattered.

I'd always wanted what they had.

And when the Moon Goddess finally gave it to me, I'd thrown it away.

"It doesn't matter now," I said quietly, the words tasting like ash. "She accepted my rejection. The bond is broken. She made it very clear she wants nothing to do with me. And I don't blame her."

"Then why are you sending wolves to find her?" Marcus challenged. "If it doesn't matter, why not just let her go?"

I didn't have a good answer for that. Or maybe I did, and I just didn't want to say it out loud. Didn't want to admit what was clawing at my chest every second she was gone.

Because the moment I'd seen her transform, seen that silver light explode from her body, seen the power radiating from her like concentrated moonlight-I'd realized what I'd lost.

Not just a mate. Not just a Moon Wolf with abilities beyond imagination.

Her.

Aria. Who'd looked at me with hope in her gray eyes before I crushed it. Who'd been treated like nothing her entire life and still had kindness in her expression. Who'd served wine with shaking hands and cleaned up broken glass with quiet dignity.

I'd rejected her. Humiliated her. She broke her in front of everyone.

And in doing so, I'd made the biggest mistake of my life.

"The search continues," I said, my voice rough. "Double the patrols. Expand the search radius. I need to find her."

"And then what?" Marcus challenged. "Force her to come back? She made it very clear she's done with you. With the pack. With all of us. You can't force her to accept you again. The Moon Goddess doesn't give third chances."

"I know that." My hands clenched into fists at my sides. "But she's in danger out there, Marcus. Alone in hostile territory with half the wolves in the realm hunting her for the reward I put on her head like an idiot. Rogues who'll sell her to the highest bidder. Packs who'll try to use her power for themselves."

I turned to face him fully. "I need to know she's safe. That's all. I just need to know she's alive and safe."

"Because you care about her?"

The question hung in the air between us.

"Because I owe her that much," I said finally. "I destroyed her, Marcus. Rejected her in the cruelest way possible in front of everyone she knew. The least I can do-the absolute least-is make sure she survives long enough to build whatever life she wants. Away from me."

Marcus studied me for a long moment. His expression softened slightly. "You're in love with her."

"I barely know her." The protest sounded weak even to my own ears.

"That's not what I asked, Your Majesty."

I turned back to the window. To the forest. To wherever she was hiding from me. From everyone.

My wolf whimpered in my mind. He'd been in agony since the rejection, pacing endlessly, howling at nothing. Demanding we fix this. Demanding we find our mate and make it right.

But how did you fix the unfixable? How did you heal a wound you'd inflicted on yourself?

"Just find her," I said quietly. "But tell the search parties to keep their distance. Don't approach. Don't threaten. Don't even let her know they're there. Just locate her and report back her position. I need to know where she is. That she's alive."

"Understood." Marcus moved toward the door, then paused with his hand on the handle. "For what it's worth, Your Majesty... I hope you find a way to make this right. She deserves better than what you gave her. Better than being rejected like trash. Better than being hunted like an animal."

"I know." The words came out barely above a whisper.

The door closed softly, leaving me alone with my guilt and my regrets and the ghost of a mate bond that would haunt me for the rest of my life.

She was ours, my wolf growled, the sound filled with accusation and grief. Perfect. Beautiful. Strong. OURS. And you threw her away like she meant nothing.

"I know," I whispered to the empty room, pressing my forehead against the cold glass. "I know. And I'll regret it every day for the rest of my life."

But knowing didn't change anything. Regret didn't fix what I'd broken.

Somewhere out there, Aria was alone. Afraid. Running from wolves who wanted to capture her or kill her, or use her.

And it was entirely my fault.

I'd rejected my fated mate.

And I'd spend the rest of my life paying for it.

I woke to the smell of pine smoke and roasting meat.

For a moment, I forgot where I was. My body was warm, comfortable, and pain-free. So different from the servant's cot I'd slept on for nineteen years that I thought I was dreaming.

Then the memory crashed back. The rejection. The transformation. Running through the forest.

Elena.

I sat up quickly, my heart racing. The shelter was empty except for me. Pale morning light filtered through gaps in the walls. How long had I slept?

"Easy," Elena's voice came from outside. "You're safe. Just making breakfast."

I pushed myself to standing, testing my feet. The bandages were still there, but the pain was completely gone. I unwrapped one foot carefully.

Perfect skin. Not even a scar.

"Told you," Elena said, ducking into the shelter with two wooden bowls. "Wolf healing. Moon Wolf healing is probably even faster." She handed me a bowl filled with what looked like fish and wild berries. "You slept for fourteen hours straight."

"Fourteen hours?" Panic spiked through me. "The hunters-"

"Came within fifty feet of here twice. Never saw us." She settled cross-legged on the floor. "This place is protected by old magic. I told you. As long as we're careful, we're invisible."

I sank back down onto the furs, relief making my legs weak. "Thank you. For everything. You didn't have to help me."

"Yes, I did." Elena's blue eyes were serious. "You're not the first wolf the packs have thrown away. Won't be the last. We outcasts have to stick together."

I ate slowly, savoring each bite. The fish was perfectly cooked, flaky, and seasoned with herbs I didn't recognize. "Where did you learn all this? Survival skills, healing, hiding?"

"Trial and error. Lots of errors." She touched a scar on her forearm. "Got that from eating the wrong mushrooms. I was sick for three days. Thought I'd die. But I learned."

"You were fifteen when they banished you?"

"Fifteen and stupid enough to think I could go back to pack life someday." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Took me six months to accept I was better off alone. Another year to stop hating them for it."

"Do you still hate them?"

Elena thought about that. "Not hate. That takes too much energy. But I don't forgive them either. They chose their rules over my freedom. That's something I'll never forget."

I understood that more than I wanted to admit.

We finished eating in comfortable silence. When we were done, Elena stood and stretched. "So. The Rogue Lands are two and a half days from here. But you can't make that journey looking like you do now."

"What's wrong with how I look?"

"You move like prey, not a predator. You don't know how to hunt, track, or fight. Your wolf is powerful, but you have no control." She moved to the entrance. "If we're going to get you there alive, you need training. Starting now."

My stomach twisted with nerves. "I don't know how to-"

"That's why I'm teaching you." Elena gestured for me to follow. "Come on. We're burning daylight."

Outside, the forest was beautiful in the morning light. Birds sang in the trees. A light mist clung to the ground. It would have been peaceful if I weren't so terrified of screwing this up.

Elena led me to a small clearing about twenty feet from her shelter. "First lesson: shifting. You did it once by accident. Now you need to do it on purpose."

"How?"

"Close your eyes."

I obeyed.

"Feel your wolf. She's right there, just under your skin. Can you feel her?"

I could. A presence in my mind. Watchful. Waiting.

Hello, I thought to her.

Finally, she responded. Ready to run?

"Now," Elena continued, "shifting is about letting go of control while maintaining awareness. You need to trust your wolf completely, but not lose yourself in the process."

That sounded impossible.

"Don't think about it too much. Just... let her out."

I reached for my wolf. Felt her surge forward eagerly.

Pain exploded through my body.

My bones cracked. My skin stretched. I screamed as the transformation took hold, just as agonizing as the first time.

But faster.

Within seconds, I was on four legs instead of two. The world looked different from this angle. Colors were muted, but I could see movement I'd missed before. Every scent was magnified-earth and pine and Elena's nervous sweat.

We did it, my wolf said, pride in her mental voice.

I tried to take a step and immediately face-planted into the dirt.

Elena's laugh rang out. "Don't worry. Everyone's clumsy their first few shifts. Try again."

I pushed myself up. My legs felt wrong-too many joints bending in directions that didn't make sense. But I managed to stand without falling this time.

"Good. Now walk."

I took a tentative step. Then another. By the third step, something clicked. My body remembered how to move like this, even if my mind didn't.

"Perfect!" Elena clapped. "Now shift back."

That was harder. I didn't know how to let go of this form. Panic rose in my chest.

Calm, my wolf said. Just reverse what we did. Pull inward instead of outward.

I tried. Nothing happened.

"You're thinking too hard," Elena called. "Stop trying to control it. Just... be human again."

I stopped fighting. Stopped thinking. Just wanted to be human.

The shift happened instantly. One second, I was a wolf; the next, I was sitting naked in the dirt, gasping for air.

Elena tossed me a spare dress she'd brought from the shelter. "Better. Most new wolves take an hour to figure out the reverse shift. You did it in under a minute."

I pulled the dress on with shaking hands. "That was horrible."

"The pain fades with practice. Eventually, you won't even feel it." She helped me to my feet. "Again."

"Again?"

"You need to be able to shift instantly in a fight. No hesitation. No thinking. Just action." Her expression was serious. "Your life might depend on it."

She was right. I knew she was right.

So I shifted again. And again. And again.

By the tenth shift, the pain had dulled to a manageable ache. By the twentieth, I could do it in seconds without thinking.

"Good," Elena finally said when the sun was high overhead. "That's enough shifting for today. Now let's work on your senses."

She led me back to the shelter and handed me a strip of cloth. "Blindfold."

"What?"

"You need to learn to trust your other senses. Sight is the weakest sense a wolf has. Sound and smell are everything." She gestured to the cloth. "Put it on."

I tied the blindfold around my eyes. The world went dark.

"Now," Elena's voice came from somewhere to my left, "tell me what you hear."

I stood still and listened. Really listened.

Birds in the trees. Wind through the leaves. Water trickling somewhere distant-the stream we'd passed last night. Elena's breathing, calm and steady. Her heartbeat, strong and rhythmic.

And something else. Something farther away.

"There are wolves nearby," I said. "Three of them. Maybe a quarter mile east."

"Very good." Elena sounded impressed. "What else?"

I focused harder. "They're talking. I can't make out the words, but... they sound frustrated. Like they're looking for something and not finding it."

"They're looking for you," Elena confirmed. "They've been circling this area all morning. But they can't find us because of the wards."

She moved, her footsteps deliberately loud. "Now tell me where I am without looking."

I tracked her by sound alone. "Behind me. About five feet. Moving to the right now."

"Perfect. Your wolf senses are already strong. Moon Wolf heritage probably amplifies them." She removed the blindfold. "Last lesson for today: combat."

My stomach dropped. "I've never fought anyone."

"I know. That's the problem." She picked up two thick branches from a pile near the shelter. "These are training weapons. They won't kill, but they'll hurt enough to teach you to block."

She tossed one to me. I caught it clumsily.

"Defensive stance," she ordered, demonstrating. "Knees bent, weight on the balls of your feet, weapon up."

I copied her as best I could.

"Good. Now-"

She attacked without warning.

The branch came at my head fast. I barely got my own branch up in time to block. The impact jarred my arms.

"Too slow," Elena said. "Again."

She attacked from a different angle. I blocked, but barely.

"Faster."

Another attack. Another clumsy block.

We drilled for over an hour. My arms screamed. Sweat poured down my face. I gained more bruises than I could count.

But I was learning. My blocks got faster. My footwork improved. By the end, I was actually managing to counterattack a few times.

"Enough," Elena finally called, both of us breathing hard. "You're a natural. Most wolves take weeks to develop combat instincts. You've got them already. Just need to refine them."

I collapsed onto the ground, every muscle trembling. "I feel like I got hit by a tree."

"You basically did. Multiple times." She sat beside me, equally exhausted. "But you did well, Moon Wolf. Really well. Another few days of this and you might actually survive a real fight."

Might survive. Great.

We rested for a while, sharing water from a leather skin. The afternoon sun was warm on my face. For a moment, I let myself feel something close to peace.

Then Elena stiffened. "Quiet."

I froze. "What is it?"

"Voices. Closer than before." She stood slowly, listening. "They're coming this way. Multiple wolves."

My heart raced. "The hunters?"

"Sounds like it." She grabbed her pack and started shoving essentials inside. "We need to move. Now."

"But you said the wards-"

"Wards aren't perfect. If enough wolves search the same area long enough, eventually they'll find inconsistencies. Gaps." She tossed me a pack. "Fill this. Food, water, anything you can carry. We leave in two minutes."

I scrambled to help, throwing dried meat and herbs, and supplies into the pack with shaking hands.

Outside, the voices grew louder. Closer.

"...has to be around here somewhere..."

"...tracks lead this direction..."

"...Alpha King wants her found today..."

Elena and I locked eyes. Today. They were pushing harder now.

"Ready?" she whispered.

I nodded, even though I wasn't. Would never be ready for this.

"Then let's go." She moved to the back of the shelter, where a section of wall could be removed. "Stay close. Stay quiet. And whatever happens, don't stop running."

She pushed through first. I followed, my heart hammering so hard I thought it might burst from my chest.

Behind us, I heard a shout.

"There! I saw movement!"

Elena cursed. "Run!"

We ran.