Chapter 65 The Prey
Dagnoth’s POV
The first explosion rolled across the forest like thunder.
Dagnoth didn’t flinch.
He had been expecting trouble tonight. The patrol reports had been too quiet, the wind too still, the forest too watchful. Years of leading warriors had sharpened his instincts, and those instincts had been whispering warnings since sunset.
Now the whispers had become a roar.
“Outer gate… hold formation!” he ordered sharply.
The courtyard moved instantly. Warriors shifted into wolves, their bodies snapping and reforming in flashes of bone and fur before sprinting toward the gate. Others rushed up the stone staircases leading to the battlements.
Another explosion echoed through the trees.
Closer.
Too close.
Dagnoth’s jaw tightened.
“Archers!” he barked. “Light the perimeter!”
Torches flared along the palace walls as warriors ignited oil-soaked arrows. Within seconds, the dark forest beyond the gates was illuminated by streaks of fire cutting through the night.
Movement flickered between the trees.
Not animals.
Not rogues.
Something else.
Dagnoth narrowed his eyes.
“Report!” he demanded.
A young warrior skidded to a halt in front of him, breathing hard.
“Alpha… we spotted figures near the southern ridge. They’re using explosives to break through the outer defenses.”
Explosives.
Dagnoth’s gaze sharpened.
That ruled out ordinary rogues immediately.
Rogues fought with claws and teeth. They didn’t carry weapons forged by human hands.
Which meant this was organized.
Planned.
“Numbers?” Dagnoth asked.
“Hard to tell in the dark, Alpha. But at least twenty.”
Too many for a simple raid.
And too well equipped.
Before he could respond, another guard ran toward him.
“Alpha! The southern barrier has been breached!”
A low growl rumbled in Dagnoth’s chest.
So it begins.
“Seal the inner gate,” he commanded without hesitation. “No one gets past the courtyard.”
Warriors immediately rushed to obey, dragging the massive iron gates into place with heavy clangs that echoed across the stone walls.
The palace had been built for war.
Every entrance could become a trap.
Every wall a shield.
Still, something about this attack bothered him.
Something didn’t fit.
They weren’t attacking the weakest point.
They were attacking the loudest one.
Almost as if…
They wanted attention.
Dagnoth’s eyes lifted automatically.
And landed on the balcony.
Her balcony.
Dahila stood there, her hands gripping the railing as she watched the chaos unfold below.
For a brief moment, irritation flashed through him.
Of course she was still awake.
Of course she had ignored his instructions.
The woman had the stubbornness of a storm.
“Stay inside!” he shouted up at her.
She frowned immediately.
Defiant even from three stories up.
Dagnoth almost swore.
Then the third explosion shook the ground.
Closer than the others.
Too close.
The forest line suddenly erupted with movement.
Figures burst from the trees, sprinting toward the outer gate.
Not wolves.
Men.
Armed men.
Dagnoth’s eyes darkened.
Hunters.
The word formed instantly in his mind.
Human hunters rarely came this deep into pack territory. Most didn’t survive long enough to try.
But these ones were different.
They were organized.
Armed.
Prepared.
And they had somehow acquired explosives strong enough to shatter wolf barriers.
Which meant someone had funded them.
Someone powerful.
“Shift!” Dagnoth ordered.
The courtyard filled with snapping bones and low growls as more warriors transformed into wolves.
The gates shuddered under another blast.
Cracks split across the reinforced iron.
“Archers—fire!”
Flaming arrows rained toward the approaching hunters.
Some fell instantly.
Others kept coming.
Dagnoth’s wolf stirred beneath his skin, restless and eager for blood.
But his attention shifted upward again.
Dahila was still on the balcony.
Still watching.
Still completely exposed.
His instincts reacted instantly.
Danger.
Not from the battlefield.
From something else.
A strange, prickling sensation crawled down his spine.
Dagnoth scanned the tree line carefully.
The attacking hunters were loud.
Chaotic.
But one section of the forest remained unnaturally still.
Too still.
And then he saw it.
A glint.
Metal reflecting torchlight.
Higher in the trees.
A sniper.
A cold pulse of realization shot through him.
They weren’t just attacking the palace.
They were creating a distraction.
His head snapped back toward the balcony.
Dahila.
“Get down!” he roared.
The shot rang out.
The crack of the rifle split the night.
Dahila moved at the last second, dropping toward the stone floor of the balcony as the bullet struck the wall behind her with a violent burst of stone.
Dagnoth’s heart slammed against his ribs.
Rage exploded through his chest.
They were aiming at her.
Not the palace.
Not the warriors.
Her.
Without another thought, he shifted.
His body tore apart and rebuilt itself in seconds, fur ripping through skin as his massive black wolf lunged across the courtyard.
Warriors scattered out of his path as he sprinted toward the palace entrance.
Another gunshot rang out.
Stone shattered again near the balcony.
Inside the forest, the sniper adjusted position.
But Dagnoth was already moving.
He burst through the palace doors and raced up the staircase three steps at a time.
Another explosion rocked the outer wall behind him.
He ignored it.
The battle outside could wait.
This couldn’t.
By the time he reached the corridor leading to Dahila’s room, his heart was pounding with fury.
The balcony doors were still open.
Cold night air rushed inside.
Dagnoth stormed through them just as Dahila pushed herself up from the floor.
She looked stunned.
But alive.
Relief hit him so fast it almost made him dizzy.
“You idiot,” he growled.
She blinked at him.
“What?”
“You were told to stay inside.”
“I was inside,” she snapped, brushing dust from her arms.
Another gunshot cracked through the night.
The bullet slammed into the stone pillar beside them.
Both of them froze.
Dagnoth moved instantly, grabbing her arm and pulling her behind the thick stone wall inside the room.
Her back collided lightly with his chest as they took cover.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Outside, the sounds of battle continued to roar through the courtyard.
Dahila finally looked up at him.
Her eyes were sharp now.
Focused.
“You’re not surprised,” she said quietly.
Dagnoth didn’t answer immediately.
Because she was right.
He wasn’t surprised.
He had suspected something like this might happen eventually.
But not this soon.
Not tonight.
And not like this.
Dahila studied his expression carefully.
“They weren’t aiming for the pack,” she continued slowly.
“No,” Dagnoth said.
Another distant explosion echoed through the forest.
The war had truly begun now.
But the battlefield outside suddenly felt less important than the truth forming between them.
Dahila’s voice dropped slightly.
“They were aiming for me.”
Dagnoth met her gaze.
And for the first time since the attack began—
He didn’t deny it.
“Yes.”