My heart beat hard in my chest as Mal’s words settled heavy in the silence between us. The weight of the night felt even more pressing now, the cold air of the underground passage clinging to my skin. The shadows seemed to stretch long, creeping across the walls of our temporary refuge, echoing the creeping tension that gnawed at me.
“Do you really think they’ll go after the pack next?” I finally whispered, breaking the stillness.
Mal’s jaw tightened, and she stood, her posture more rigid than I’d seen in a long while. “If they’re organized enough to have human allies… Yeah. They’ll come for us. You included.”
A chill rolled down my spine, colder than the draft through the tunnel. The idea of being targeted like that-nothing more than pawns in someone else’s game-made my stomach churn. I glanced up at the tunnel ahead, wondering if every noise I thought I heard was one of them. The smallest skittering sound made me jump, but I forced myself to calm down. Panic wouldn’t get us anywhere.
“How did you know… about the human?” I asked, hesitant to speak too openly but driven by the need for answers.
Mal’s gaze darkened. “I didn’t exactly find him-he found me. But he’s not the only one. I saw a few others, all wearing the same insignia. They were hiding their faces, but it doesn’t take much to recognize that kind of authority. They were well-trained… military-grade.”
“Military?” My breath caught in my throat. “What does that have to do with the rogues?”
“The rogues are just pawns in this.” She exhaled sharply, running a hand through her messy hair. “They’re being used to create chaos-wildcards. But whoever’s pulling the strings behind them is much more powerful. That much I know.”
I could feel my blood turn cold in my veins. If rogues were just the distraction, what else was there?
“What exactly does that mean?” My voice came out weaker than I meant.
Mal hesitated, scanning the tunnel. “It means we’re dealing with more than just a rogue uprising. We’re in a warzone, Audrey. Not just for territory. They’ve got a whole lot more in mind.”
“And we’re just supposed to sit here and wait?” I asked, frustration bubbling in my chest. I was done with waiting-done with hiding.
Mal’s eyes flared with a sharp look. “We wait because if we don’t, they’ll find us-and then all of this will have been for nothing. You’re not thinking clearly right now.”
She was right, but my impatience clawed at me. Every moment we sat still, every breath we took within these confining walls, only gave the enemy more time to move.
“How do we even know what’s next?” I pushed. “What if we have the wrong plan entirely? How do we know they’ll even stop searching?”
Mal crossed her arms, her breath shallow but deliberate. “Because we’re not the only ones who have a plan, Audrey. Logan’s waiting for us.” She paused. “And if we can’t make it back to camp undetected… Logan will know what to do. He’ll know the truth.”
Logan. The thought of him caught in this madness, tangled in whatever war was being waged beneath our feet, made the ache inside me grow even deeper.
“What if we’re too late?” I murmured. “What if they attack the pack before we can warn them?”
“Then we fight,” she said simply, her voice cutting through the doubt clouding my mind. “But we’ll do it on our terms. Not on theirs.”
Her confidence was unwavering, and it calmed some of the chaos within me. If anyone knew how to survive something like this, it was Mal.
“The others…” I began. “What happens to them if things go south?”
“Logan’s got the pack under control,” she replied firmly. “He knows how to protect them. We do what we do best, which is gather information. The rest will follow.”
I took a breath, trying to ground myself in her words, but it wasn’t easy. Every time I let my mind wander to what might happen next, I found myself sucked deeper into the fear of the unknown.
“How do we even start looking for their camp?” I asked, my eyes trying to pierce through the shadows that surrounded us.
“We don’t look,” Mal answered quickly. “We make them find us.”
I blinked, not understanding.
She turned towards me, her eyes like ice. “You’re stronger than you realize, Audrey. You’ve got abilities-unique ones. I don’t know everything about your power yet, but I know enough. Your kind wasn’t just created to fight for survival. It’s in your blood-deep. Your instincts, Audrey… you can track them. You can feel the danger coming.”
“Track?” I repeated. “You want me to track the rogues?”
“Exactly,” she said, almost fiercely. “You already did it once tonight without even realizing it. Now, you’ve got to get smarter about it. They’ll try to split us, but you’ll be able to sense it. Their movements… the air, the scent… it’s all part of you. Trust that power, and we’ll get out of here before they even know it.”
The idea of harnessing that raw power inside me made my heart race. I could barely control the flicker of energy inside of me now, but somehow, the thought of using it as Mal had said made me feel less afraid. A wild kind of hope sparked in my chest.
“I think I’m ready,” I said finally, even as a second wave of doubt swept over me. What if I couldn’t control it? What if I failed? But I couldn’t let that fear win.
Mal looked at me, her usual sharp edge softened just enough to show a hint of approval. “You’re stronger than you realize. Come on-let’s give them a chase they’ll never forget.”
We pushed forward, deeper into the tunnel, into the unknown waiting above. Whatever this war was, I wasn’t about to sit and let it swallow me whole.
We had a plan.
And this time, we weren’t just running from our enemies. We were ready to make them run from us.