Chapter 133

JAX

The night air was thick with tension, the kind that settles deep in your chest and squeezes tight until you can hardly breathe. We moved quietly, our pack’s best deltas by our side, ready for the mission that would bring Knox home. Every step felt heavier as we made our way through the dense forest toward the hunting camp. The intel had been solid enough, but in the back of my mind, I was still worried we might be too late. The thought of what they could be doing to Knox twisted my gut in knots.

"Asher," I whispered, my voice barely audible. He glanced at me, his face grim, and I knew he was feeling the same. "We’ve got to move fast. No room for error."

He nodded, his jaw tight. "We’ll split into two teams. I’ll lead one, you take the other. Surround them from both sides, cut off any exits. We go in hard, take them down, and get out."

I scanned the forest ahead, eyes flicking toward the faint glow of the hunters’ campfire in the distance. “No one gets out alive, Jax," I reminded myself, and I knew Asher was thinking it too. They’d made this personal the second they took Knox.

We paused at the edge of the clearing, crouching low as our team of deltas spread out behind us, ready to strike. Asher turned to me. "On my mark. Watch your back, and find him as soon as we breach."

I gave him a quick nod, my heart pounding in my chest. The plan was simple—hit them from all sides, create chaos, and locate Knox before they knew what was happening. These weren’t ordinary hunters. They were well-trained, coordinated, and they had something we didn’t: the knowledge of how to suppress our wolves. That was the part that worried me the most.

Asher raised his hand, signaling his team to fan out toward the right, while I motioned for mine to take the left. My pulse raced, the anticipation buzzing under my skin as I crouched in position, eyes locked on the camp.

The world seemed to freeze for a second, the silence before the storm. Then, with a swift motion, Asher gave the signal.

We hit them hard.

The first explosion was fast and loud—a distraction planted by one of our deltas. It ripped through the night, sending hunters scrambling. My team surged forward, weapons drawn, and we crashed into their camp with everything we had. Arrows flew, metal clanged, and shouts erupted from every direction.

I ducked behind a tent, catching sight of two hunters pulling crossbows from their backs. Before they could take aim, I charged, knocking one to the ground with a swift punch to the gut. The other turned to fire, but I was quicker, wrenching the bow from his hands and driving my knife deep into his chest.

"Keep moving!" I barked at the deltas. "Find Knox!"

The camp was chaos now—exactly as we’d planned. Tents were torn apart, bodies dropped to the ground, and the flicker of the campfire cast long, violent shadows across the battlefield. Asher was in the middle of it all, cutting down hunters with a ferocity I hadn’t seen in years.

I spun around, scanning the area for any sign of my brother. My gut twisted. He had to be here.

"Jax!" A voice rang out from behind me, one of the deltas. "Found him!"

I didn’t waste a second, tearing through the camp toward the voice. My heart pounded harder with every step until I reached the far edge of the camp where a small, makeshift cage stood. Inside, slumped against the metal bars, was Knox.

He looked rough. His face was pale, his eyes half-lidded with exhaustion, and there were dark bruises lining his arms and neck. But he was alive. Relief crashed over me like a wave.

"Knox!" I dropped to my knees in front of the cage, pulling at the lock. "Hey, come on, we’ve got you."

His eyes flickered open, a weak smile tugging at his lips. "’Bout time... was starting to think you’d forgotten about me."

I laughed, though it came out more as a choked breath. "Not a chance, man." I yanked the lock free, swinging the cage door open. "Can you stand?"

He groaned, pushing himself up, though I could see the strain in every movement. "They’ve been keeping me weak," he muttered, his voice hoarse. "Poisoned... something in the water. But I can walk."

I threw one of his arms over my shoulder, helping him to his feet as another delta covered us from behind. As we moved through the camp, Knox glanced around, his expression darkening. "Where’s Emilia?"

That hit like a punch to the gut. Emilia. Isabella’s mother. The one who orchestrated this whole thing. I hadn’t seen her, and that wasn’t a good sign.

"She’s not here," I said, scanning the chaos around us. "But we’ll find her."

Knox nodded weakly, his gaze hardening despite his weakened state. "She said... she didn’t want to do this... but I don’t believe her."

We moved fast, slipping through the camp toward the woods. Asher’s team had cleared most of the hunters, bodies strewn across the ground, but there was no sign of Emilia. It wasn’t until we reached the treeline that I turned to look back at the camp. The place was a wreck, tents burned, the few remaining hunters retreating into the woods.

"We’ve got to move," I said, my voice tight. "We’ll regroup, get Knox home, and figure out our next move."

But as we started to pull away from the camp, something gnawed at the back of my mind. Emilia was nowhere to be found—and that didn’t sit right with me.

"She’s not done," Knox muttered beside me, echoing my thoughts. "This was just the start."

I looked at him, the weight of his words sinking in. He was right. This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

Asher met us at the edge of the woods, his face grim but determined. "We got what we came for," he said, his voice low. "But Emilia’s still out there."

I nodded, my grip tightening on Knox’s arm. "And we’ll find her. But first, let’s get him home."

As we disappeared into the forest, my mind raced. Emilia had made this personal, and we’d barely scratched the surface of her plans. But for now, we had Knox. And that was enough.