Page 35 of Wolf's Endgame

I said nothing as I prepared my pack to go to war.

We advanced at night, keeping to our human forms. Shifters were more inclined to pick up on the scent of a fellow shifter. Human scent was much subtler, and it wasn’t until you were very close to one, that you would know if they were a shifter or not.

A fact that had fascinated Doc in the beginning. I met him in the army. He was, as his name suggested, a doctor and was the medic on duty the night my unit took me into the medical tent after shrapnel had ripped into my body from an unexploded mine. My unit never knew that if they’d just left me alone, I’d have been fine. But it’s hard to explain miraculous recoveries in the army.

I knew within a few minutes that Doc wasn’t one hundred percent human, but it took too many nights to realize he was half shifter.

When we both realized there was more to us than met the eye, he conceded to hide my recovery if he could watch me shift. I had no issue with nudity; I was naked more than I was dressed sometimes. Doc took my hesitancy as homophobia. Idiot. I remember his face when I laughed so hard I cried. I ended up telling him that I hesitated because there was a moment during the shift when I was at my most vulnerable.

He had moved to the other end of the room, his hands raised at all times. An act of trust from us both. A friendship was born. It had been rocky at times, but it was a friendship nonetheless.

“It really pisses me off because,” Royce murmured as we moved through the night, “he wouldn’t have meant harm.”

“I know.”

“He still caused harm,” Nikan grumbled at my other side. “Why didn’t Hannah notice his tells?”

“Because my wife is not his babysitter.”

The edge in Royce’s voice shut my brother up. We approached Anterrio Pack two hours before dawn, and as we had on the run-up to the Luna Ball, we circled the perimeter and we watched.

Leo had been wrong. Their security wasn’t slack. It was non-existent.

I was just about to give the signal to move forward when my signal changed to hold. If the shifter who fell out of the house, more likely the bed, of his lover knew he was being watched by an army of shifters, he showed no sign as he staggered towards the trees to the north.

Leo and Nikan were already following him, as he obliviously tucked his shirt into his pants, swaying unsteadily before setting off again.

What’s there? I asked through the link.

Nothing. Abandoned barn. Searched it before, Nikan replied.

Search it again.

I ignored the image of the hand gesture my brother sent back. We waited. My pack never moved. Even as the dawn began to break, we held position.

Alpha. Come.

Twelve of us broke off and headed in the direction of my brother and Leo. We found them a distance from the dilapidated barn. They stood around two doors in the ground. The long grass hid the doors from visibility.

“A cell?” Nikan asked.

Looking around, I realized at the same time as Royce did. “A trap!”

They burst from the soil like ants from a disturbed anthill. Shifters I didn’t recognize were ready to fight us. Their element of surprise was short-lived when my pack quickly recovered.

Nikan pulled the doors open of the bunker that hadn’t opened. “Let’s see what’s behind this.”

My yell of warning was lost when he disappeared into the darkness, and I hurried after him, reaching him in a few strides. “Let’s not jump into any more underground tunnels,” I whispered angrily when I caught up to him.

We both slowed when we realized how extensive the tunnels were. We were faced with a fork ahead of us, and Nikan looked over at me.

“They’ve utilized old mines and made them structurally stronger.”

He nodded as he looked around. “Who do you think they are hiding down here?”

Cautiously we moved forward. Keeping the mindlink open, Royce and the other unit leaders kept me updated with the skirmish above. I heard the noise first, my pace increasing as I led and my brother followed. As the tunnel split into two, I walked forward, the noise leading me to it.

When the tunnel ended abruptly, I almost didn’t notice, because all I could see were the two wolves that lay on the floor of a cell, heavy collars of silver around their neck.

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