Chapter 70 THE RETREAT
Ray's POV
Morrisson appeared again, and this time, I know that we cannot win this.
The realization hits me as I watch another packmate fall to Morrison's corrupted wolves. Bodies litter the clearing. Morrison stands in the center of it all wearing that stolen body and smiling like this is entertainment.
"Fall back!" My voice cuts through the chaos. "Everyone retreat now!"
"Alpha, we can still fight." Leo staggers toward me with a gash across his ribs that shows bone.
"Look around." I grab his shoulder to steady him. "Half our pack is already down. We stay and we die."
Leo frowns, but he knows I am right. We are outmatched and Morrison has not even used his full power yet.
"Get the wounded to the mountain pass." I shove Marcus toward the treeline. "Go."
The pack responds instantly. Years of training override their instinct to fight and they grab whoever is closest and run. Some carry injured packmates on their backs. Others support wolves who can barely walk. The retreat is messy and desperate but we move fast.
Morrison laughs. The sound echoes across the clearing and makes my skin crawl. "Running already? I expected more from the mighty Dark Night Pack."
I ignore him. Engaging will only slow us down and give him time to pick off stragglers.
"Alicia!" I spot her near the treeline clutching Luna against her chest. The baby is silent but her silver eyes track everything with unnatural awareness. "With me now!"
She runs without hesitation. Monty appears beside her. His presence still unnerves me but he stays close to Alicia and that matters more than my comfort.
Logan emerges from the medical wing carrying an armful of books and supplies. His face is pale. "I grabbed what I could. The rest will have to burn."
"Good." I take point as we hit the treeline. "Stay close and keep moving. The mountains are two miles north."
The pack spreads out in a loose formation designed to prevent total slaughter if Morrison's wolves pursue us.
Trees whip past as we run and branches scratch at exposed skin. I hear labored breathing behind me and know some of these wolves will not make it to the mountains. Their bodies are giving out from blood loss.
But we cannot stop.
A howl rises from the clearing behind us.
"Faster!" I push harder and hear the pack match my pace. "They are coming!"
Alicia keeps up despite carrying Luna. Her maternal instinct overrides everything else and she runs like her life depends on it because it does.
Logan struggles with the books but refuses to drop them. "Ray, we need these. Everything about True Lunas is in here."
"Then do not fall behind."
The sound of pursuit grows louder.
Leo appears at my side breathing hard. "Alpha, we have a problem."
"Just one?"
"The head guard is missing. Nobody has seen him since Morrison possessed Monty's body."
My stomach drops. Moses was one of our strongest fighters and losing him means our defensive capability just decreased significantly. "Did he fall in battle?"
"He was there one moment and gone the next."
I file that information away to deal with later. Right now survival takes priority over locating missing packmates.
The mountains appear through the trees ahead.
"There!" I point toward the narrow gap between two cliff faces. "Everyone through the pass!"
The pack moves toward the opening. It is barely wide enough for two wolves to run side by side and the terrain forces us to slow down.
Morrison's wolves break through the treeline behind us. At least twenty of them and their eyes glow with that same unnatural light Morrison carries in his stolen body.
"Move!" I shove packmates through the pass as fast as they can squeeze through. "Do not stop!"
Alicia disappears into the gap with Luna. Monty follows immediately after. Logan struggles through with his armload of books and nearly drops half of them on the rocky ground.
The corrupted wolves hit our rear guard hard. I hear screams and the wet sound of teeth meeting flesh. Two more packmates go down and I know they are dead before their bodies hit the ground.
Leo and I are the last ones through. We turn and face the gap as Morrison's wolves pile up at the entrance snarling. The narrow space prevents them from rushing us all at once and that small advantage might be the only thing keeping us alive.
"Go." I tell Leo. "I will hold them off."
"Like hell you will."
We back into the pass together watching the corrupted wolves test the opening. They are smart enough to know charging blindly will get them killed.
The pass opens into a wider canyon after fifty yards and I can see packmates ahead disappearing into the cave entrance carved into the canyon wall. The system extends deep into the mountain with multiple chambers large enough to house our entire pack if needed.
Leo and I reach the canyon and sprint for the caves. Morrison's wolves pour through the pass behind us but the distance gives us just enough time.
We hit the cave entrance and keep running.
Packmates crowd the main chamber ahead. Maybe forty wolves total out of the eighty we started with. The losses hit me hard but I shove the grief down because we are not safe yet.
Alicia stands near the back wall with Luna. Monty stands at her right side and Logan her left. They look exhausted and terrified but alive.
"Is everyone accounted for?" I scan the faces looking for anyone obviously missing besides the head guard.
"Jake is gone too." Leo wipes blood from a cut above his eye.
Jake escaped with Morrison. The betrayal stings even though I expected it after everything he did. He chose his master over his pack and now we pay the price.
"Seal the entrance." I point to the tunnel. "Collapse it if you have to. Nothing gets through."
Warriors move to obey but stop when a voice echoes from deeper in the cave system.
"I would not do that if I were you."
Everyone freezes.
The voice comes from the largest chamber in the back.
I move toward the chamber with Leo at my side. My claws extend automatically and every instinct screams danger.
We round the corner and stop.
The chamber is full of wolves. At least a dozen of them standing in formation like they have been waiting for hours. And at the center standing calm and composed with silver hair that matches Luna's eyes is a woman
Elara. Alicia's mother.
She smiles at me with Luna's exact smile and the resemblance is so strong it makes my chest tight.
"Hello Ray." Her voice is warm and familiar like she has known me forever. "I have been waiting for you to bring my granddaughter home."