Chapter 20: Twenty

Karina's pov

We didn’t drag it out. Within minutes, we were fully packed and ready to leave.

The gates opened, and we drove out. Being outside the pack after two years felt scary in a way, but also familiar.

The last time I was out here, I was a hopeless runaway about to be killed by rogue wolves. Now, I was going on a mission with a rogue wolf pack.

This was all new to me, yet it felt so familiar, like I had been at this junction before in my life.

We finally drove out of the pack full territory. I didn't look back; that was behind me now, my past, unless I changed my mind.

And with the way last night turned out,the chances of me coming back here were very low.

It was time for me to move forward with my life. As we moved further, the sound of human activity faded, replaced by the quiet rhythm of the trucks moving and the faint chatter among the troops.

I took a deep breath as Kole's face flashed in my mind. This is what I need. Distance from him. So I can think clearly and regain a little of the pride and self-respect I left on the floor yesterday.

Things were easier when I didn't have to deal with him. I could be in control, but with him, I never knew how to control things.

I looked around the truck. Drake had given me some distance since morning; I guess he could tell something was up with me and didn't want to push too much.

Or maybe he just wanted to focus on what we had ahead of us. Maybe I should, too. I should be going through the plan, running the numbers, and planning a counterattack if things don't go the way we planned, but instead, I was thinking about the one person I said I didn't want to think about.

"This is pathetic," I whispered to myself. He probably hasn't thought about me since I left, and he probably doesn't even want me to come back to the pack.

I needed to get this out of my mind, so I picked up the plans and went through them again. Our goal was to trick people into thinking we were vulnerable and attack the first wave I secretly sent ahead of us couple of days ago, and they've already been doing that.

So now what we had to do was watch, analyze their activities, and attack if necessary. Hopefully, it wouldn't be necessary. I had fought before, but only with people in the pack who tried to double-cross us. It wasn't surprising that it was a common occurrence in a rogue pack.

Soon we got to the part of the journey that required us to walk I stead so we didn't draw unnecessary attention to ourselves.

We got out of the van and spread out into different groups.

I exhaled slowly, adjusting my pace as I moved ahead of my group.

Kole’s words lingered briefly at the edge of my mind. What if he wasn't trying to make me feel better this morning and actually meant what he said?

Maybe he was sorry and realized what he had lost. I've been ignoring the stirring of my wolf since yesterday; it felt like it could tell that part of my feelings for kole died yesterday and was trying to revive them.

It annoyed me, cause I knew it wouldn't take much. No matter how much his actions hurt me yesterday, it was hard to break the pull that Kole and I had. It was an assignment by fate, so fighting against it was only hurting us, not changing it.

"I need to stop thinking about him," I whispered to myself. There were more important things to focus on."

I focused on the journey ahead, for the first time since yesterday.

My thoughts finally felt quiet, my brain stopped racing through all the possibilities of me and kole and stayed still. This was a welcome change.

We reached the outer line before sunset.

The closer we got, the more the air changed. My senses were on high alert, and I could already feel that things were being distributed in this place, things that shouldn't even be moved.

I raised a hand, signaling for a halt.

The group stopped instantly, their eyes wide with questions. I could tell some of them could sense the change, too.

“Set perimeter,” I said quietly, they nodded and began moving without question.

We'd gone over this a million times already at the pack, so they moved through the steps seamlessly, with no wasted motion or unnecessary noise.

I moved slowly, surveying the area for any signs of interference. I found many; to the untrained eye, things looked normal, but I could tell that they were being made to look that way.

“They’ve been here,” I said slowly.

Drake came up beside me. “You’re sure?” he asked, his eyes scanning the place, then

"Yes," I said, as I pointed toward the ground. There were markings, disturbed soil, and tracks that had been partially covered but not well enough.

“They’re careful,” I added. “But not careful enough. It appears our fears were right; they are mapping us.”

He nodded slowly. “So what do we do now, we wait?” he asked

I shook my head.

“No, that's too risky, let's give things some days, then we'll decide what to do next,” I said.

My stomach turned, I could tell that things weren't going to turn out how I planned.

\---

We stayed put for the next three days and fully assessed the situation.

We made sure to stay out of sight and rotated shifts in watching. We didn't need to draw attention to ourselves yet; that would be an unnecessary risk.

Drake and I, along with a couple of the troop commanders, paid attention to the patterns in the pack, the timing and movements of the pack.

After just a day of watching, we could tell they weren't just passing through; they were studying us and slowly mapping us.

On the third night, I finally made the call.

“We move tonight.” I declared.

The group gathered around, their attention fixed on me.

“They think we haven’t noticed them yet, which means we have the upper hand, lets take advantage of that now while we still can.”

Drake crossed his arms. “You’re sure about this?”

“Yes,” I replied without hesitation.

“We hit first, and fast. I can tell from the pattern of their movements that we're already running out of time. We strike without drawing out.”

“And if it turns into one?” someone asked.

“Tell us to fight,” I said calmly, checking my weapon.

Night came quickly.

Soon, the forest swallowed most of the light, leaving only shadows and instinct to guide us.

We moved silently, following the paths we had mapped out when we arrived.

When we reached their position, I signaled for the group to split and took the lead.

“Now.” I signaled once we were in the correct position, and the first wave moved and went down before they could react. They reacted suddenly, showing they weren't as unprepared as we thought.

“They were ready,” Drake muttered beside me, blocking an incoming strike.

“Doesn’t matter,” I replied, countering and taking the attacker down.

The fight spread quickly, chaos breaking through the structure we tried to maintain. I tried my best to focus and stay in control.

It was getting harder by the minute.

Suddenly, something shifted as I realized I had been left alone by the person I was fighting.

I looked around me, suddenly aware of the distance between me and my troops, and started moving back to get closer to them.

Unexpectedly, a presence behind me, I cursed under my breath, realizing how risky this situation was.

I moved to run when a pin exploded at the back of my head. I closed my eyes in pain and fell to the ground as everything got dark.

\---

Everywhere was dark when I woke up; it was quiet.

My head throbbed as I forced my eyes open, trying to remember how I ended up here.

I studied the room: it's small, with no windows, limiting my chance of escape, and my hands were bound, making things harder.

After a few minutes of sitting there helplessly, staring into the dark, I started hearing whispers from outside the room.

“She’s the leader.”

“Orders were clear: keep her alive. We move before sunrise.” I listened quietly.

It was becoming clear that I had to figure out a way to get out of here before tomorrow, or else it might be too late by then.

I shifted slightly, testing the restraints.

It was tight, but not impossible; I'm sure I could get out of them. I just needed the right chance to get through the door.

Time passed, slowly, and I wasn’t sure how much.

Finally, the door opened, and two men walked in.

I kept my head lowered, pretending to be still disoriented.

“Wake her,” one of them said.

A hand grabbed my arm. In an attempt to wake me up, I took the chance and moved instantly. I twisted my arms from the bind I already loosened and struck the man with my leg.

He fell to the ground immediately, cursing in pain, and I struck again, breaking his legs.

One down.

The second barely reacted before I was on him.

I grabbed the weapon from his side and stabbed him with it, pressing my hands over his mouth to muffle the sound of his screams.

I quickly changed into their clothes and moved out of the room, struggling through the dark untill I found an opening. I limped out the window and ran as quickly as I could, hoping no one saw me, and they weren't aware of my escape yet.