Chapter 133
Elara's POV
Kress's voice cut through the clearing like a whip. "If either of you pulls anything like this again, I'm leaving you in the forest. Clear?"
Sass and Zack nodded. The cocky grins had slipped off their faces. They finally looked like they understood this wasn't a game.
Tina sat on a fallen log, face buried in her hands. Her shoulders still shook. Linda stood beside her, one protective arm around her friend, shooting death glares at the twins.
Greg wiped his glasses with the hem of his shirt. "Can we just... move on? Please?"
Luke crossed his arms. "Yeah. Before something actually dangerous shows up."
I stood at the edge of the clearing. Watched everyone. Calculated.
The prank was stupid. Reckless. But it told me something important: these people had no concept of real danger. They thought fear was something you could laugh off after.
They'd never run for their lives. Never made split-second choices between fighting and dying.
They were kids playing dress-up in the woods.
A long, low howl echoed through the trees.
Everyone froze.
That wasn't a regular wolf howl. The pitch was wrong. Too deep. Too controlled. That was a shifter.
Kress's head snapped toward the sound. His face went white.
"Everyone. Now. Back the way we came."
His voice had changed. No anger now. Just cold command with an edge of something I recognized.
Fear.
"Wait, what—" Greg started.
"NOW!" Kress was already moving, hand on the knife at his belt. "Close formation. Stay together. Move fast."
Sass opened his mouth to argue. Zack grabbed his arm, shaking his head. For once, the twins had enough sense to shut up.
The group scrambled into motion. Tina stumbled getting up. Linda caught her elbow.
I fell into step near the middle of the pack. Let my training take over. Scanned the tree line. Listened for movement in the undergrowth.
That howl had come from the northeast. The direction we'd been planning to search.
My hand moved to my pocket. Felt the weight of the radio Cole had given me. I wanted to check in. Ask if he'd heard it too.
But not with everyone around.
"Kress." Luke jogged up beside him. "What was that? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Just move." Kress didn't slow down.
"We're supposed to be searching for someone," Greg said, breathing hard. "Shouldn't we—"
"The search is over. We're going back to base."
Sass pushed forward through the group. "Dude, my brother and I said we're sorry. You don't have to—"
"This isn't about your stupid prank." Kress's voice was flat. "That howl means there's something out here we're not equipped to handle."
"It's just a wolf," Zack said. But his voice wavered.
"No," I said quietly. "It's not."
Everyone looked at me.
I kept my expression neutral. Shrugged. "Wolves don't sound like that. Too... deliberate."
Kress's eyes met mine for a second. Something flickered in his face. Recognition? Suspicion?
He turned away. "Keep moving."
We pushed through the forest. Faster now. The afternoon light was starting to fade. Shadows stretched long between the trees.
Tina whimpered. "I want to go home."
"We're going," Linda said. "Just keep walking."
I stayed alert. Every rustle of leaves. Every crack of a branch. My body remembered how to move in hostile territory even if this body had never done it before.
Training and muscle memory were two different things. I had the first. This body was still learning the second.
But I'd compensated. Months of work. Months of pushing past limits.
I wasn't the fragile Omega everyone thought I was anymore.
Another howl. Closer this time.
Kress cursed under his breath. Picked up the pace.
"Run," he said. "Don't stop. Don't look back."
"What?!" Tina's voice pitched up.
"RUN!"
The group broke into a sprint.
I ran with them. Not at the front. Not at the back. Right in the middle where I could see everything.
Branches whipped past my face. Roots tried to catch my feet. I jumped over a fallen log without breaking stride.
Behind me, someone stumbled. Greg. Luke grabbed his arm, hauled him upright.
"Keep going!" Kress shouted.
My lungs worked smoothly. No burning. No tightness. Helena's ritual had done more than cure the asthma. It had unlocked something. Made me stronger.
I could run like this for hours if I had to.
But the others couldn't.
Tina was already gasping. Sass and Zack were falling behind despite their size. Even Greg was struggling.
We burst out of the dense trees into a more open area. The path was clearer here. Wider.
Kress slowed slightly. Let everyone catch up.
"Stay together," he panted. "Almost there."
Almost where? We'd been walking for over an hour before we stopped at that clearing. Running back would still take—
Kress stopped so suddenly that Linda almost crashed into him.
He stood frozen. Staring ahead.
I followed his gaze.
Ten meters in front of us, blocking the path, stood a wolf.
Not a normal wolf. Too big. Shoulder height easily a meter. Gray-brown fur. Yellow eyes that held too much intelligence.
A shifter. In wolf form.
Tina made a strangled sound. Grabbed Linda's arm so hard her knuckles went white.
"Cole?" Kress's voice was careful. Controlled. "Is that you?"
I went very still.
Kress knew Cole was a shifter.
Of course he did. They were friends. But hearing him say it out loud, in front of everyone...
The wolf didn't respond. Just watched us with those unblinking yellow eyes.
"Cole, if that's you, shift back. You're scaring people."
Nothing.
I studied the wolf. The coloring was wrong. Cole's wolf form was black. I'd seen it that night in the forest when we'd gone to find the refugee camp.
This wolf was gray-brown. Smaller than Cole too. And the eyes...
Cole's eyes were dark amber. Almost brown.
This wolf's eyes were bright yellow. Cold.
My hand slid toward the small of my back. Where I'd hidden a knife under my jacket. Just in case.
The wolf took a step forward.
Kress raised both hands slowly. "Easy. We're just passing through. No trouble."
"That's not Cole," I said quietly.
Kress didn't take his eyes off the wolf. "How do you know?"
"Wrong color. Wrong size. Wrong eyes."
"Shit." Kress's hand dropped to his knife. "Everyone stay calm. Back up slowly."
"Back up?" Sass's voice cracked. "There's a giant wolf right there!"
"I can see that." Kress's voice had gone very quiet. Very focused. "Which is why you're going to do exactly what I say."
The wolf's lips pulled back. Showed teeth.
Not a snarl. Not yet.
A warning.
I measured the distance. Calculated angles. If it charged, I could probably get my knife out in time. Probably.
But then what? I'd fought shifters before. In my old body. With my old strength.
This body was trained. Capable. But still human-strength. Still limited.
I'd need to be smart. Fast. Precise.
And I'd need to make sure no one else got hurt.
The wolf's gaze swept across the group. Lingered on each person for a second.
When those yellow eyes reached me, they stopped.
The wolf's head tilted slightly.
I stared back. Didn't blink. Didn't look away.
Something passed between us. Recognition? Curiosity?
The wolf took another step forward.
Kress's hand tightened on his knife handle. "Nobody move."
My fingers brushed the knife grip under my jacket.