Chapter 113

Chapter 113
As the transport moved steadily through the mountain forest, Ioannis noticed Ellie's eyelids growing heavier despite her obvious determination to remain vigilant. The purple wolf in her arms emitted occasional soft, soothing sounds, its programming responding to her elevated heart rate with calming frequencies. Gradually, almost imperceptibly, the girl's rigid posture began to relax, her head nodding forward before she caught herself and straightened again.
Nickolas observed this with quiet concern, his storm-grey eyes meeting Ioannis's briefly. Through their bond, she felt his tactical assessment. The girl was exhausted beyond her limits, but she was forcing herself to remain vigilant.
"Ellie," Ioannis said softly, "no one will separate you from Micha while you sleep. I promise."
The girl's dark eyes found hers, wariness battling with bone-deep fatigue. "You can't promise that," she whispered, though her voice lacked its earlier conviction. "Adults always lie."
The pendant cooled against Ioannis's skin. What had these children endured that made such cynicism feel like wisdom to a thirteen-year-old? Through their bond, she felt Nickolas's matching sorrow, carefully controlled beneath his composed exterior.
"Not these adults," Lucas murmured sleepily from beside Micha. "They found you as they promised. They gave us the wolves as they promised."
Ellie's fingers stroked Violet's fur absently, the repetitive motion seeming to soothe her despite her efforts to remain alert. The purple wolf emitted another soft sound, this one at a frequency designed to speak directly to her suppressed wolf nature.
"Just for a minute," she finally conceded, her eyelids drooping despite her best efforts. "Wake me if anything changes."
"I promise," Ioannis assured her, the pendant warming against her skin.
Within moments, Ellie's head had dropped forward, her body finally surrendering to exhaustion. The purple wolf nestled against her chest, continuing its soft, soothing sounds, helping deepen her much-needed rest. Micha remained curled against her side, the green wolf in his arms occasionally harmonising with Violet's calming tones.
Ioannis watched the sleeping children, her heart aching for what they had endured. The pendant pulsed with gentle warmth as Nickolas reached across to take her hand, his fingers intertwining with hers in silent support.
"They're remarkable," he murmured, his voice pitched low enough not to disturb the sleeping children. Through their bond, his admiration flowed for their resilience, particularly Ellie's tactical awareness and protective instincts.
"Ellie especially," Ioannis agreed softly. "To keep two younger children alive through an escape and days in the wilderness... she must have been planning this for months."
Emma nodded from her position near the front of the transport. "The tactical thinking required is impressive for any age, let alone a thirteen-year-old. She found water sources, avoided detection, and kept moving toward higher ground where she could maintain visibility."
"And taught the younger ones survival skills," Sera added, her voice barely above a whisper as she glanced toward Lucas. "Berry identification, water safety, scent masking. She was preparing them."
Ioannis watched Sera's expression soften as she glanced at Lucas. The woman who had found the boy in a drainage culvert now looked at him with unmistakable protectiveness.
"She was keeping them alive," Nickolas said, his voice so low that Ioannis had to lean closer to hear him. Through their bond, she felt his deep admiration mingling with simmering rage at what these children had endured. "Not just physically, but mentally. Teaching them skills, giving them purpose."
The pendant warmed against Ioannis's skin as she studied Ellie's sleeping face. In the rest, the tactical mask had fallen away, revealing just how young she truly was. Thirteen, barely on the cusp of adolescence, yet she had shouldered responsibilities that would challenge most adults.
"I wonder what she was like before," Ioannis whispered, her fingers tightening around Nickolas's. "Before the facility. Does she even remember?"
The question hung in the air as the transport hummed steadily through the mountain forest. Lucas stirred slightly in his sleep, and Shadow clutched protectively against his chest. The grey wolf toy emitted a soft, soothing sound that seemed to settle him back into deeper slumber.
Emma moved closer, her storm-grey eyes, so like her brother's, reflecting controlled fury beneath her composed expression. "The healers have been preparing specialised care protocols based on Lucas's information," she murmured. "Trauma-sensitive approaches, particularly for children who may have been in captivity since infancy."
"Ellie seems to remember something of pack life," Ioannis observed, recalling how the girl had recognised the Storm Striders' blue in their clothing. "She knew we were pack wolves immediately."
"Which suggests she was taken later than the others," Nickolas concluded, his tactical mind evident in his focused expression. "Perhaps old enough to have formed memories of her natal pack."
The pendant pulsed with gentle warmth as Ioannis considered the implications. If Ellie remembered her pack, there might be family searching for her, wolves who had lost a daughter years ago and never stopped looking.
"We should check missing cubs reports," she suggested, her voice barely above a whisper. "Going back at least five years. Dark-haired female, possibly taken around age eight."
Nickolas nodded, his thumb tracing small circles against her palm. Through their bond, she felt his tactical mind already calculating how to cross-reference pack records across territories. "Federico can coordinate with the record-keepers from all ten territories. If she were reported missing, we'll find the documentation."
The transport began its descent into the valley where Storm Striders' compound nestled against the mountainside. Ioannis felt the pendant warm against her skin as they approached, its gentle pulse matching her quickening heartbeat. These children were safe now, exhausted, traumatised, but finally among their own kind.