Adrenaline surged through me, and my legs burned as I pushed harder to keep up with Mal. Her figure was barely a shadow in the moonlight, weaving effortlessly through the dense forest. Behind us, the howls grew closer, their guttural ferocity cutting through the stillness of the night.
“We can’t outrun them for long!” I shouted, ducking beneath a low branch. My dagger bounced lightly in its sheath with every step, an unsettling reminder of how unprepared I felt for the fight I could sense creeping closer.
“Just keep moving!” Mal hissed, her voice sharp. She wasn’t slowing down, but even she couldn’t ignore the sound of branches snapping and leaves crunching not far behind.
The rogues were gaining.
Instinctively, I reached inward, searching for the flicker of energy that Logan and I had worked to harness-the faint whisper of the power that made my kind more than human. It sparked within me like the crackle of a flame, raw and untamed. My vision sharpened, the dark forest shifting into sharper focus. Every scent, every sound-it all burned brighter in my mind.
“Left!” Mal yelled suddenly, veering sharply to avoid a steep drop into a creek below. I followed without question, my feet skidding against the damp earth as we adjusted course. The distant sound of rushing water reached my ears, faint but growing louder. It was a chance, a sliver of hope that we could lose them in the chaos of the terrain. But as we raced on, another sound cut through the night-low, guttural growls.
Ahead of us.
Mal cursed, skidding to a halt just as three rogues emerged from the shadows, their hulking forms illuminated by faint shafts of moonlight. Their teeth gleamed as they snarled, claws extended, ready for the kill.
“No way through!” Mal spat, yanking a silver blade from her belt. She threw me a sharp glance. “Hold them off for a minute-I’ll clear a path!”
I drew my dagger, its blade catching a glimmer of moonlight, and stepped forward, forcing my trembling hands to still. The rogues inched closer, their golden eyes gleaming with hunger and bloodlust. My heartbeat thundered in my ears, but I gritted my teeth and held my ground.
One of the rogues leaped forward, its claws aimed for my throat. I ducked low, spinning on my heel as I drove my dagger upward, catching the beast across its ribs. It roared in pain, stumbling, but another rogue was already moving in.
Mal’s voice rang out. “Duck!”
I dropped instinctively, and her blade arced overhead, its sharp edge embedding itself in the second rogue’s chest. The beast howled as it fell, blood splattering the ground. Mal grunted as she yanked her blade free, stepping back to my side.
“We’re not going to make it if we stay here,” I panted, sidestepping as the first rogue lunged again, its claws raking through empty air. “There are too many.”
“I said I’d clear a path, didn’t I?” Mal growled, her eyes blazing with determination. She planted her feet and extended her arms outward. At first, I thought she was exposing herself-but then the air around her shimmered, the temperature dropping sharply. Frost formed on the nearby foliage, and the rogues hesitated, sensing the shift. Mal’s voice was low, steady. “Cover me for a second.”
Another rogue charged, but this time I was ready. I met it mid-lunge, catching its arm and slamming it to the ground with a strength I didn’t know I possessed. My dagger flashed, and the rogue howled before I rolled out of the way of its claws.
The forest around us trembled as Mal unleashed her power. A wall of ice exploded outward, frost and snow crackling as it shot forward, freezing everything in its path. The rogues stumbled back, momentarily stunned, and Mal grinned, triumphant.
“Move!” she barked, motioning toward the narrow gap her ice had created.
We didn’t waste time. Racing through the temporary barrier, we emerged on the other side, the sound of rushing water louder now, beckoning us forward.
“They’ll break through that in minutes,” I said, my breathing ragged as we sprinted down the slope toward the creek below. “Do we cross the water?”
“It’s our best shot,” Mal replied, glancing over her shoulder. “Rogues are fast, but water slows them down. We need every advantage.”
The creek’s icy current was wider than I expected, churning wildly under the faint moonlight. Mal plunged in first, the cold water surging around her waist, and I followed without hesitation, my muscles screaming in protest as the chill bit into my skin.
Halfway across, the howls behind us grew deafening. I glanced over my shoulder to see the remaining rogues charging down the slope. They were relentless, their movements fueled by fury and purpose.
“Hurry!” Mal urged, her teeth chattering as she fought against the current. My arms burned as I forced myself forward, every step harder than the last.
The rogues didn’t hesitate. The first leaped into the water with a snarl, its massive frame slicing through the creek like a predator in its element. The others followed, splashing in after it, their movements slower but no less menacing.
“We’re not going to make it,” I gasped, panic clawing at my throat.
Mal cursed, her breaths labored. “Keep going! We’re almost there!”
As we dragged ourselves onto the opposite bank, Mal spun around, her frost-covered hands raised again. A second icy barrier erupted, but it was weaker this time, jagged and thin, already cracking under the weight of the rogues’ blows.
My heart thudded against my ribs, but my legs were starting to give out. The fight, the chase, the near-drowning-it was too much. But Mal wasn’t about to stop. She didn’t have time to.
“Come on, Audrey, move!” Her voice was rough, almost desperate as she sprinted up the slope toward a thick thicket of trees. We needed to lose them. Somehow.
I pushed forward, ignoring the biting cold in my limbs, the gnawing exhaustion threatening to pull me under. The barrier that Mal created wouldn’t hold for long. We had mere moments.
Ahead of us, the forest grew darker, the trees denser. Our only chance to lose the rogues was to throw them off our scent, to make them believe we’d gone in another direction.
We ran, not looking back, twisting and turning through the dense forest. But even with Mal’s speed, the sounds of pursuit grew closer again, those guttural growls louder, sharper. The rogues didn’t give up.
“Almost there!” Mal’s voice shot through the night, tense with urgency.
I wasn’t sure what she meant by that-“there” could be anywhere-but I trusted her. She was the one who knew how to survive this. I followed her into the brush, my dagger gripped tightly, ready for anything.
We were still moving fast, leaping over fallen logs and ducking beneath branches when Mal’s sudden stop made me almost slam into her.
“There,” she whispered harshly, her arm thrusting toward a steep hill hidden among a mass of vines.
It was an old tree, a twisted oak standing like a sentinel, completely out of place with its uneven, jagged roots, a strange kind of sanctum. As if it had been waiting for us.
“Get in,” Mal snapped, pulling aside the vines with swift movements. She gestured to the narrow passage beneath the oak’s roots, a dark tunnel leading into the ground, hidden from view. I didn’t hesitate. Without a word, I dropped onto the muddy floor and scrambled inside.
Mal followed closely, pushing herself through the roots and snapping the vines back into place behind us. The sudden darkness overwhelmed me for a moment, but as I adjusted, I realized this wasn’t just a simple hole-it was a passage.
Before I could ask, Mal spoke in a low voice, a harsh whisper against the silent forest outside. “Underground hideout. It’s old but it’ll do. They won’t find us here immediately, especially if we don’t make noise.”
My eyes adjusted, seeing just enough of the space around us. The dirt walls were lined with rough wooden supports, signs of previous uses long past, but we were safe for now.
“I thought you said you had a plan,” I muttered, catching my breath, still hyperaware of every sound.
“I did. Stay low, stay silent,” she answered with sharp precision. “They won’t risk coming too deep in, not unless they’re certain we’re hiding in here. And even then, we’ll hear them first.”
I swallowed hard. The stillness around us felt suffocating, every tiny sound too loud. But I couldn’t deny the rush of relief-the dark tunnel had protected us for now.
“How many do you think we lost?” I whispered, not able to keep the tightness from my voice.
“Two,” Mal said bluntly. Her eyes scanned the dim tunnel ahead of us. “The others were smart enough not to engage. They’re still circling the forest, trying to figure out what route we took. And they’re angry.”
I nodded, tension crawling across my skin again. Mal was always calm under pressure, but the thought of being caught and trapped wasn’t something that could be pushed aside, no matter how strong I tried to act.
“Do you think they’ll stop searching soon?” I asked.
Mal was quiet for a moment before answering, her expression clouded. “No. They’re smart and organized-they’ll keep searching, but they’ll keep their numbers low until they get reinforcements. When that happens…” She trailed off, meeting my eyes. There was no need to finish the thought.
Reinforcements meant worse things. They could flood this area and search every crack, every hidden passage. There was no way we’d escape without a fight at that point.
A sudden shudder passed through me-not from the cold, but from the very reality of what we had walked into tonight. The organized, purposeful attack. The looming sense that this was much bigger than I had ever realized.
“How long do we stay here?” I asked quietly, already feeling a flicker of hope die in my chest. Being underground wasn’t a safe haven-it was a trap, no matter how temporary.
“Long enough for them to lose our trail,” Mal answered, then paused, clearly deep in thought. She glanced up the tunnel, making a decision. “We’ll wait for the search to die down, then head back toward camp. If we can get past them undetected, we’ll warn Logan. Maybe even take back what we learned about their camp.”
My throat constricted. “What about the human you saw with their leader? What do you think that means?”
Mal’s lips tightened. “What it means is that the rogues have someone funding them. That’s bad. It means whoever they are, they’re ready for war.” She stepped closer to me, lowering her voice to a near whisper. “It’s not just about rogues anymore. Someone powerful is behind this.”
Powerful enough to change everything, to shift the balance in ways we weren’t ready for.
“You know this isn’t just about our pack anymore, right?” Mal said, eyes fixed on me with a seriousness that matched the darkening atmosphere. “We’ve just thrown ourselves into the middle of something much larger than us.”
My breath caught, my mind spinning. Her words echoed around in my mind long after she finished speaking.
What had we just gotten ourselves into?