Chapter 97
Elara's POV
The equipment station smelled like gun oil and canvas. I stood with my assigned team, watching Alice check her compass with the kind of precision that made my shoulders relax just slightly.
Evan grabbed a rope coil and turned to me. His jaw was tight. "You really can't shift at all?"
Not a question. An accusation.
"No." I kept my voice level. Calm.
His eyes narrowed. "Great. So we're down one fighter before we even start."
Mia shifted her weight beside him. She was small, maybe five-three, with nervous hands that kept adjusting her pack straps. "I heard you got perfect scores on everything though..."
Her voice trailed off. The doubt was clear in her eyes even as she tried to sound encouraging.
I met Evan's stare. Didn't blink. "I'll contribute in my own way."
"Your own way." He snorted. "Right."
Alice stepped between us. Her voice cut clean. "We don't have time for this. Warren's about to brief."
I was already calculating. Evan was strong but impatient. Mia was fast but easily spooked. Alice was solid, professional, but she couldn't carry a whole team alone.
This was going to be harder than I thought.
---
Warren unfolded a topographical map on the equipment table. The paper crinkled under his hands.
"Your target is a signal transmitter." His finger tapped three locations. "Hidden in one of these spots. Abandoned watchtower here. Cave system here. Valley creek here."
I leaned in. Memorized the terrain features. Ridge lines. Water sources. Elevation changes.
"Rules are simple," Warren continued. "Find it. Bring it back to base. Forty-eight hours. You can search, intercept other teams, set traps. Any means necessary."
Evan's hand curled into a fist. Ready.
"But." Warren's eyes swept across all of us. "The forest has anti-wolf trap systems installed. Shifting gives you advantages. It also makes you vulnerable to certain... obstacles."
My pulse kicked up. Just once.
No shifting meant no enhanced senses. No speed. No strength.
But it also meant I could slip past traps designed to catch wolves.
I caught Alice watching me. She gave a tiny nod. She'd figured it out too.
---
We gathered at the forest entrance. Morning sun cut through the pine branches in sharp lines.
Evan was already talking. "We shift, move fast, cover all three locations before the other teams even get their bearings."
Alice shook her head. "That's stupid. We'll burn through our energy and find nothing."
"Then what's your brilliant plan?" Evan shot back.
Mia looked at me. Uncertain.
I pulled out my copy of the map. Spread it on a flat rock.
"The watchtower." I pointed to the northwest marker. "Three-story structure. Complex terrain. Hardest to search."
Evan crossed his arms. "So?"
"So that's where I'd hide something in a high-difficulty evaluation." I traced the approach routes. "The cave's too obvious. The valley's too exposed. The watchtower fits the design psychology."
Alice studied the map. "Makes sense."
"Makes sense?" Evan's voice rose. "Why should we listen to someone who can't even track a scent?"
I looked up at him. Kept my face blank. "East cave is a decoy. South valley leaves us visible to every other team. Northwest tower gives us cover and complexity. That's not tracking. That's logic."
Silence.
Alice spoke first. "I agree with Elara."
Mia nodded quickly. "Me too."
Evan's jaw worked. He wanted to argue. But he couldn't actually counter the reasoning.
"Fine." The word came out clipped. "We try it your way. But if we're wrong, we change course immediately."
"Fair enough." I folded the map.
Inside, my mind was already three steps ahead. Convincing them was just the first move.
Now I had to prove I could actually lead without shifting.
---
We'd been hiking for two hours when I saw it.
Fresh breaks in the branches. Too clean. Too recent.
I raised my fist. The signal for stop.
Alice froze immediately. Evan and Mia halted a second later.
I pointed to the broken branches. Mouthed the words: "Someone just passed through."
Evan's eyes widened. He opened his mouth to say something.
Too late.
The attack came from the left side. Fast. Coordinated.
Four massive wolves burst from the undergrowth. Their fur was dark gray, almost black in the shadows. I recognized the lead wolf's scent even in human form.
Dylan.
His howl split the air. Triumphant. Mocking.
"Since we ran into you, might as well eliminate you early!"
Evan and Alice shifted instantly. Bones cracked and reformed. Fur rippled across skin. Two wolves—one sandy brown, one sleek black—sprang forward to meet the attack.
Mia screamed and ducked behind me.
I didn't move. My eyes scanned the terrain in half a second.
Three large pines to my right. Steep slope behind us. Pile of loose rocks near the base of the middle tree.
The tactical solution formed in my head like muscle memory.
Dylan's wolf was bigger than the others. He went straight for Alice, trying to use his weight advantage. His team spread out, trying to flank.
Classic pincer movement. Aggressive but predictable.
I grabbed Mia's shoulder. She flinched.
"Listen to me." My voice came out cold. Commanding. "When I say run, you go straight back twenty yards and climb the tallest tree you can find. Don't come down until I call you. Understand?"
She nodded. Her face was white.
The wolves clashed. Snarls and snapping teeth. Alice was holding her own against Dylan but barely. Evan had engaged two of Dylan's teammates and was getting pushed back.
We were about to get overwhelmed.
I took a breath. Let the old instincts rise up. The part of me that had commanded warriors in the frozen north. The part that knew how to turn terrain into weapon.
"Alice!" I shouted. "Drive them left toward the rocks!"
She heard me. Broke off from Dylan and pivoted, forcing him to follow or lose position.
"Evan! Protect Mia!"
He snarled but shifted his stance, putting himself between the attackers and where Mia crouched.
Dylan's wolf turned toward me. His eyes gleamed with something ugly.
The weak little Omega giving orders.
He thought I was an easy target.
I met his gaze. Didn't flinch.
"Now, Mia. Run."
She bolted.
And I started giving commands like I was born to it.
Because I was.