61

61


Lana's POV

I do my best to keep my heartbeat in check and also hold my breath, knowing that this is the critical part. I have escaped detection all throughout the talk, and now is the time that they leave. I've done half the work already, but I know without a doubt that anytime from now, everything I've managed to build could come crashing down and they would capture me.

Either way, if I'm not able to keep my composure and maintain the balance I've kept throughout, I know that they are going to easily find me. One way or another, my betraying their crucial information to the alpha wouldn't happen anymore. If they capture me, or if I actually manage to run back, they definitely won't execute this particular plan anymore. It's a brutal plan, something that's going to really affect and devastate our pack, but at the same time, it's also a brilliant opportunity - one that I know I wouldn't want to pass on.

If we can lure them into a trap, knowing the plan they have in mind and using it to our advantage to ambush them, then we are going to be the ones to massacre them and turn the tables around, bringing their plans upon their own heads. It's very exciting to me. I know that it's going to be possible if we are simply careful enough. If I'm able to get out of here, I might actually bring about a great victory for us, and not just a defense against the evil plans they have to destroy my pack.

I compose myself, waiting patiently for them all to leave. They don't seem to have any idea at all that I'm here. Things seem to go smoothly for a while, but suddenly Valeria turns and looks directly at where I am. I freeze in shock, wondering if she has somehow noticed me. She takes a couple of steps towards me, her eyes searching.

I don't know if she's sure I am here yet, but I decide to take my chances and remain hidden. If she doesn't know that I'm here, it would definitely be better for me to stay still while I still have the chance. However, I'm about to depend on luck - it's a gamble. If I run away and she sees me, then it's not going to work at all, and she's going to definitely teach me a brutal lesson if she catches me.

The seconds feel like minutes as she takes slow steps towards me. The leader of the rogue pack stops for a while, frowning as he looks at her. "What is it?" he questions. She stops just short of reaching me. She tilts her head towards me, and I try my best to remain still. I really hope that she doesn't see me.

"Nothing," she says finally, and I nearly give a sigh of relief - nearly, because that's also something that can effectively give me away. I'm not about to let that happen, so I simply keep my cool even after the tension in my shoulders at the prospect of her finding me out. She turns around and smiles at him. "Nothing at all. There's no problem," she says. "Let's go."

They start heading out, and I can't help but breathe freely this time around. I know that they can't hear me anymore - they are too far away, and that makes me very happy. It also makes me peaceful as I relax and think about all the information swirling in my head now, trying to organize it as much as possible. The plan is bubbling in me to tell someone, to expose them, but I still have to tread carefully in their territory.

I talk into my walkie-talkie. "Retreat," I say. "We've got what we need." There is no response from anybody at all, which makes me frown. "Did they hear me at all? Who copies?" I question, frowning as I think about it. If anyone has been captured, it's really going to be a pain because I know just how difficult it's going to be to rescue someone from the grasp of these people, considering how tough they all seem to be and the fact that they have all the cards in their favor now.

My best bet is to escape while I still have the chance and not try to rescue anyone. They are all soldiers, and soldiers usually die in the battlefield. However, these ones are under me - they are in my division, and they are risking their lives along with me. I don't feel like I should let them die for that sake, even though it's what soldiers do and they have sworn to use their lives to protect the pack.

"Who copies?" I say once again into my walkie-talkie, this time a little louder, trusting that the people from earlier have finally gone.

"I do," someone says, and I look to see the one who has been hiding here with me come out of his hiding place, looking at me with a nod.

"At least you are one person," I tell him. "What about the others?"

He seems to think about it for a while, as if he doesn't quite know how to respond. "I have no idea," he says finally, shaking his head. "But I think that all of them should be getting away by now after the message you've passed."

I shake my head. "No, if they really got my message, they would have started acting on it immediately, and I don't expect them to linger for more than a second longer," I say. "I don't think they got my message at all."

He smiles at me. "Let's leave now that we still have the chance to do it."

I find myself frowning. It's exactly the thought that comes into my mind, but I don't want to do that - not yet, because of the chances that some of us were captured. Just telling the alpha the plans and having them fortify the gate is only going to be a defense, and we won't be able to lead them into an ambush and end the threat once and for all.

"No," I say. "I'm not going to leave them here to die. I'm going to rescue them as much as I can. I'm going to put in all my efforts to get everyone that came with me out of here alive."

He looks at me in surprise, his eyes lighting up with something that looks like hope and thankfulness. I know that he doesn't want his people to die, but he thinks that's the most plausible option. Well, that's not with me - I'm going to make sure that I do my duty through and through. People aren't going to die under my rule for no just reason at all.

"Come with me," I say. "I'm going to figure this out now. I'm going to get everyone that came with me back, but I'll need your help if it's going to work out."

He smiles at me, nodding in agreement. "I'm up for it," he says. "I'll do everything I can to get them back also, since you are so determined."

I smile at him once again. He thinks well of me, but that's only half of it - I know I'm going to succeed. I just feel it in my bones.

We proceeded quickly, decisively, moving as quickly, as steadily as possible, because of the mission that we had at hand, and the thoughts of the people that depended on us, with him suggesting other ways, I kept on trying and trying through the walkie-talkies, just wanting to be completely sure that they were actually in trouble, and that it wasn't some kind of misunderstanding. Soon, my fears were finally assuaged, or more like stirred up a little more, because it became clear to me that they were actually all somehow missing. Only me and him seemed to still be in connection, and I didn't see why they wouldn't stay on their walkie-talkies if they were doing well. The only possible explanation was that they weren't, and that things were very tough for them. Either way, I was already up on the mission to rescue them, wherever they were. I thought of the possible places that they could be, not able to actually figure out any place that was most likely. With only two of us here, we couldn't really split up, and even if we did, we wouldn't cover much ground, so we needed to judge carefully.

I looked at him, wondering if he had any suggestions in mind. I didn't have much knowledge of the terrain here, but him, maybe, we think there was some hope after all.