Chapter 44
Elara's POV
I reached the north entrance five minutes early. The forest loomed ahead like a wall of darkness. No streetlights out here. Just trees and shadows and the smell of pine.
I pressed my back against a thick oak and scanned the area. Empty. Good.
My phone buzzed.
Kael: Plan changed. We're going straight to the core camp. No scouting. You need to see this yourself.
I stared at the screen. What the hell?
My fingers hovered over the keyboard. This wasn't what we'd agreed on. Scouting first. Assess the threat. Then decide on action.
Going straight in was reckless. Stupid.
Before I could type a response footsteps crunched through the underbrush. I tensed.
Kael emerged from the tree line. His eyes caught the moonlight and reflected it back like an animal's. He wasn't smiling.
"No time to explain," he said. "The wolves might relocate tonight. We need to move now."
"That's not the plan—"
"Plans change." His hands went to his jacket. Started unbuckling. "We have to reach them before they scatter."
I opened my mouth to argue but the words died in my throat.
His jacket hit the ground. Then his shirt.
Oh god.
I'd seen him shirtless before during training but this was different. This was deliberate. Intimate in a way that made my pulse spike.
His muscles shifted under his skin as he moved. Every line of his torso was carved like he'd been sculpted by someone obsessed with perfection. The moonlight painted silver streaks across his chest and abs.
I forced myself to look away. Focused on a tree branch behind him.
Then I heard it.
The sound of bones breaking and reforming. Wet cracks that echoed in the quiet forest. My stomach lurched but I couldn't stop myself from looking.
His spine arched. His shoulders broadened impossibly wide. Dark fur rippled across his skin like oil spreading on water.
In seconds the man was gone.
A massive black wolf stood in his place. Easily five feet at the shoulder. Muscles bunched under glossy fur. Those same amber eyes stared at me with an intelligence that was absolutely not animal.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
Not from fear.
From recognition.
This was what I used to be. What I'd lost. Seeing Kael in his wolf form felt like looking at a ghost of my former self.
The wolf lowered its head. Those amber eyes locked onto mine.
The message was clear. Get on.
I hesitated.
Riding another wolf was... intimate. In pack culture it meant trust. Submission. Or something more complicated that I didn't want to think about right now.
But we didn't have time for my hang-ups.
I grabbed a fistful of thick black fur and swung myself onto his back. His body heat soaked through my clothes instantly. I could feel every breath he took. Every shift of muscle beneath me.
"This is insane," I muttered.
The wolf made a sound deep in its chest. Something between a growl and a huff. Then it lunged forward.
Trees blurred past. Wind screamed in my ears. I had to flatten myself against Kael's back to keep from being thrown off. My arms wrapped around his neck. My face pressed into his fur.
He smelled like cedar and leather and something wild I couldn't name. The scent flooded my nose. Made my head spin.
My body started doing things it absolutely should not be doing.
Heat pooled low in my stomach. My skin prickled with awareness everywhere we touched. Every stride he took sent vibrations through me that felt way too good.
Stop it. Focus.
I forced myself to scan our surroundings. We were moving fast. Too fast for me to track landmarks. The forest was a dark tunnel rushing past.
How long had we been running? Five minutes? Ten?
Time felt weird. Stretched out and compressed at the same time.
Kael's pace slowed. The frantic sprint became a careful trot. Then he stopped completely.
I stayed frozen on his back. My brain felt like mush. My body was still humming with that awful pleasant heat.
The shift happened again. Bones cracking. Fur receding. I scrambled off him before the transformation finished and nearly face-planted into a tree.
"Elara?"
His voice. Human again. Low and rough.
I turned around slowly.
He stood there fully clothed somehow. Must have stashed spare clothes nearby. His hair was messed up from the run. His eyes studied my face with an intensity that made me want to look away.
"You okay? You look..." He trailed off.
"Fine." My voice came out too sharp. "I'm fine."
His gaze lingered on my flushed cheeks. Something flickered in his expression. Too quick for me to read.
He pointed down the slope. "The camp is there."
I moved to the edge of the rocks and peered over.
My breath caught.
This wasn't what I'd expected at all.
Below us sat maybe seven or eight tents. Threadbare canvas patched with duct tape and rope. A dying campfire in the center threw weak orange light across the clearing.
Two elderly wolves hunched near one tent. Their movements were slow. Arthritic. One was sewing up a tear in the canvas with shaking hands.
A woman sat by the fire feeding something to a small child. The kid couldn't have been more than five. Skinny arms. Hollow cheeks.
Three young men stood guard at the camp's edge. But they looked half-starved. Their clothes hung off their frames. One was leaning heavily on a walking stick.
This wasn't a war party.
This was a refugee camp.
"What the hell?" I whispered.
Kael's jaw was tight. "Drake's surveillance confirmed it. These aren't the wolves who attacked your cousin."
"Then who—"
A shout cut through the night.
"Intruders!"
My head whipped around.
A skinny young wolf stumbled out from behind a tree. He must have been taking a piss or something because his pants were still half undone. His eyes went huge when he saw us.
For three seconds nobody moved.
Then the kid bolted toward the camp screaming. "Intruders! We're under attack!"
Shit.
The camp exploded into motion. Wolves poured out of tents. The three guards rushed forward. The old ones grabbed weapons. Even the woman with the child stood up.
They formed a defensive line. Ragged and desperate but ready to fight.
The man in front had a scar cutting through his left eyebrow. His face was gaunt. Angry. He stared at Kael with pure hatred.
"Harrington's brat," he spat. "What do you want from us?"