“He’ll be killed,” Danielo said.
“Maybe. But he will not live if he fails to do all he can to save his mate.” Varian laid Tomas on the ground. “Go, Zio. Fight hard and fight clever. I believe Shadow Clan forces are an hour away. If you can find Devan and keep yourselves alive until then, you may stand a chance.”
* * *
Zio crept through the thick undergrowth at the east of the burning compound. His heart screamed at him to storm ahead, but Varian’s last words kept him hidden.Fight hard and fight clever.Charging the compound would achieve the first, but not for long. The compound was heavily guarded. Even fuelled by wolf-deep instinct to get to Devan by any means possible and lacking the logical thinking of his human form, there were too many for Zio to fight alone, and he couldn’t risk unleashing his gift while he didn’t know Devan’s location.
With growing desperation, he slunk along the perimeter, scenting the air every few seconds, searching for any recent trails that would lead him to Devan. The air was thick with unfamiliar shifters, with blood and death, but a hundred metres from Varian’s house, he froze, nose twitching. It wasn’t Devan’s scent, but...
Zio followed it out of the bushes in the wrong direction and found Michael at the foot of a tree, bleeding heavily but conscious.
In a heartbeat, Zio was human. “Did you see him?”
“Who?”
“Devan.”
“No. I didn’t see anyone.”
Zio took Michael’s hand. “I thought you were dead.”
Michael hummed. “Me too, but I took the herbs Devan gave out for blood loss. They’re working. Just need a few minutes.”
Judging by the still-open wound to Michael’s abdomen and the wan tone of his skin, he needed more than a few minutes, but regardless, it was time Zio didn’t have. “I’m alone,” he said. “Varian, Danielo, and some others are gathered in the forest. I don’t know if they’ll be able to launch a counter-attack any time soon. Tomas is dead, Gale, Track, Kate, Ishmail, and Xan. All of them.”
Michael shook his head. “No, not Gale. I felt him, I think... from a distance. He was alive.”
“He was here?”
“Somewhere. I don’t know. Not Vicky, though. I found her outside the intel building. Maybe he was looking for her.”
Zio closed his eyes, committing the information to his brain to deal with later. His heart ached for his pack, for hisfamily, but he could do nothing for Vicky now, and with no clue to Gale’s whereabouts, he couldn’t help him either.
“Z, there’s something else.”
Zio refocused on Michael, squeezing his hand tighter. “What? What is it?”
“Vicky. She wasn’t killed in a wolf fight... she was shot... with a gun.”
Michael’s eyes fluttered. Zio shook him. “Are you sure?”
“I smelt it—gun smoke.”
Zio sniffed the air and found nothing he hadn’t smelt before.But...“We saw them. On the drone footage. They had guns and a silencer.”
Michael nodded. “And they’re not afraid to use them, even though the humans are all over us. It’s like they’ve lost all reason.”
Zio agreed, but he’d run out of time. “I have to go.”
“I know.”
“Are you going to be okay?”
“Soon, brother.”
“As soon as you can walk, you need to get away from here. Get to the clearing by the oak glade. Find the others.”
“I will.”