Chapter 21 The Defector's Call
Sera's POV
I feel the moment Kira's team crosses into Eastern territory. Not literally; the distance is too great; but through the bond with Kade, I can sense his awareness of their location. It's like a thread connecting us, and I focus on it, trying to use it to monitor the extraction.
"Stop that," Kade says, not unkindly, from his position at the war table. We've established a temporary command center in the secondary council room, monitoring the extraction in real time through magical communication crystals that Gaius acquired years ago.
"I'm not doing anything," I protest.
"You're pouring anxiety through the bond," Kade explains. "It makes it harder for me to focus on Kira's team."
I consciously try to calm myself, but it's like asking someone not to breathe. Fear is just as involuntary.
The crystal flares, and Kira's voice comes through, crisp and professional. "We're approaching the extraction point. All clear so far."
"Copy," Kade responds. "Proceed with caution."
The next hour is the longest of my life. I pace while Kade sits perfectly still, his eyes closed, communicating with Kira through the crystal. Gaius watches from the corner, taking notes on everything that happens. A few other senior warriors stand by in case we need to send backup.
"They have Tobias," Kade says suddenly. "Moving to extraction route three."
"Copy," Gaius says, tracing something on the map.
I'm watching the crystal, waiting for the next update, when Kade goes rigid.
"Contact," he says sharply. "Eastern patrol. They're engaging."
My heart stops.
"Kira?" Kade's voice is hard command now. "Report."
The crystal crackles with static, and for a moment there's nothing. Then Kira's voice comes through, breathless: "We're okay. Engaging wolves. Numbers unclear. Moving to secondary route."
"Get clear," Kade orders. "That's not a negotiation."
The next updates come faster. Sounds of fighting through the crystal. Kira's voice calling out positions. Another warrior reporting an injury. The sound of feet- paws, moving fast through forest.
I feel it in the bond before Kade says it. Pain. Not his, but connected to him somehow. Through him.
"Calan's hit," Kade says grimly. "Silver. They're moving him out."
"Can he make it?" Gaius asks.
"He'll have to," Kade replies.
The crystal goes quiet for what feels like an eternity but is probably only minutes. When Kira's voice comes back, it's controlled but tight with effort.
"Extraction complete. Moving to safe house to assess injuries. Will report from there."
Kade exhales slowly. "Understood. Lay low for two hours, then begin return journey. We'll have a healer standing by."
"Copy. Kira out."
The crystal dims, and the silence that follows is deafening.
"Someone knew they were coming," Gaius says flatly. "That wasn't a random patrol."
"We don't know that," one of the warriors suggests hopefully. "It could have been bad timing…"
"No," I interrupt. "It wasn't. Because Kade said the Eastern territory was supposed to be lightly defended. And yet they ran into a patrol within minutes of extraction."
Kade opens his eyes and looks at me. "This stays between us. No one else knows about the leak until we've identified the source."
"Agreed," Gaius says. "We need to tighten security on extraction information. From now on, only essential personnel know the details."
The next two hours crawl by. I can't sit still. I can't focus. I just exist in this state of horrible waiting, checking the crystal every five minutes even though no more messages will come until they're back.
When Kira finally emerges from the forest with her team, I'm the first one at the gate.
Calan is on his feet, but barely. His right shoulder is wrapped heavily in bandages, and his face is gray with pain. The other warriors are supporting him, practically dragging him forward. And between them, looking absolutely terrified, is a boy who can't be more than fifteen.
Tobias.
"Get him to medical," Kade commands, appearing beside me. "Both of them."
The extraction team moves quickly, carrying both Calan and the supplies into the compound. But I'm watching the boy-Tobias, looking around with wide, hunted eyes.
"He saw his pack die," Kira says quietly to Kade as she passes. "The patrol was larger than we expected. We had to fight through them. Some of them weren't expecting a confrontation. It got messy."
Kade's jaw tightens. This wasn't supposed to happen. The extraction was supposed to be clean.
In the medical wing, Mara takes over immediately. She assesses Calan with the efficiency of someone who's seen battle wounds before.
"Silver and regular wound," she mutters, already preparing bandages and medicines. "Could be worse. Could be much worse. He'll live, but he needs treatment now."
I stand in the corner, watching her work. Thinking about how Calan was just trying to save someone. Thinking about how Tobias had to watch his pack get slaughtered just to escape execution.
This is what resistance costs.
Kira finds me there an hour later, after Mara has declared that Calan will survive.
"I'm sorry we didn't get to you earlier," Kira says, which surprises me. "This wasn't supposed to be difficult."
"Someone knew," I say. "Didn't they? Someone warned the Eastern pack."
Kira doesn't answer immediately. She pulls up a chair and sits heavily.
"Yes," she finally says. "Someone knew. And we need to figure out who before the next extraction."
"Gaius thinks it might be a council spy," I tell her.
Kira's expression darkens. "Of course he does. And he's probably right. The councils have fingers in every territory. It's one of the reasons they're so hard to fight."
"So what do we do?" I ask.
"We get smarter," Kira says. "We compartmentalize information. We limit who knows about extractions to absolutely essential people. And we start watching for patterns; who knows what, before and after."
That night, I sit with young Tobias in his new room. He's curled in on himself, overwhelmed by the transition from condemned to safe, eyes still haunted by whatever he witnessed in the forest.
"It gets better," I tell him, though I'm not entirely sure I believe it. "The fear, the sense of displacement; it all gets better. You're going to find your place here."
"Why did you help me?" he asks, his voice small. "You don't know me."
"Because I've been where you are," I say. "Terrified that something inside me makes me wrong. Convinced that I'm going to be punished for something I didn't choose. But I wasn't wrong. And neither are you. We're just different. And different isn't bad."
Tobias nods, but his eyes are still haunted.
Later, I find Kade in his study, reviewing documents with an expression of deep concentration. But he looks up the moment I enter.
"Someone in the Eastern pack warned them," I say. It's not a question.
"Yes," Kade confirms. "Kira confirmed it before she left medical. The patrol was positioned exactly where we were going to be. They were expecting us."
"Which means we have a leak," I say.
"Or multiple leaks," Kade says grimly. "Which is what worries me more."
"In the Sanctuary?" I ask.
"Possibly," Kade says. "Or it could be someone in the Eastern pack who's sympathetic to the councils. Either way, we need to figure out who before the next extraction."
"There will be a next extraction?" I ask.
"Yes," Kade says. "Because now that the councils know hybrid activity is increasing, they're going to start cracking down. People will need us more than ever. But we can't afford to lose more people to leaks."
I think about Calan's wound. About how close we came to losing him. About young Tobias, forced to watch his pack die just for a chance at freedom.
"We're going to have to go bigger," I say quietly. "Faster. Before they can coordinate more attacks."
"I know," Kade says. "Which is why we need to accelerate our timeline."
But something in his expression tells me he's worried about what acceleration will cost.
The message that changes everything arrives on the fourth night.
It comes through a private channel; the kind that only Kade and Liam share. I watch as Kade reads it, and I see his entire body go tense.
"What?" I ask.
"Liam is requesting an urgent communication," Kade says. "He says he has information about what the councils are planning. Something big. And he says..." Kade's jaw clenches. "He says he wants to defect."
The compound goes quiet when word spreads. Liam; my brother, embedded deep in the Shadow Lands, our most valuable intelligence source; wants to come to us.
"Can he even do that?" I ask. "Won't your father stop him?"
"Not if he's careful," Kade says. "And not if we move fast enough. But once he defects, the Shadow Lands will know we have him. They'll know he was feeding us intelligence. It'll change everything."
"Then why is he doing it?" I ask. "If he's been so valuable as an internal source…"
"Because whatever he's learned," Kade says, "is important enough that he's willing to burn his entire position to tell us."
That night, Kade makes the decision.
"We extract him," he says simply. "Tomorrow night. Before he can be discovered."