The main hall is ahead. That’s where I last saw Sophie. I need to get to her before they lock everything down, before someone raises the alarm, before—
A howl rips through the air.
Then another. And another. Coming from the north side of the compound, overlapping, furious. The sound of wolves in full attack. Gunfire cracks. Once, twice, a rapid stutter. Then screaming. Not the controlled shouts of guards responding to an escaped prisoner. Real screaming. The kind that comes from a fight.
The compound explodes into chaos around me. Alphas pour out of buildings, some shifting mid-stride, clothes shredding as wolves replace men. Guards run for the north gate. Someone is bellowing orders, but his voice is drowned by the howls, more of them now, coming from multiple directions—a coordinated assault hitting from at least two sides.
I press myself against the wall of the hallway as bodies rush past.
Another howl cuts through the noise. This one I know. Deep and raw and commanding, the kind that doesn’t ask for compliance but demands it, the kind that makes every wolf in earshot want to bare their throat or run.
Darius.
My wolf rises inside me, answering that howl before I can stop her, a whine building in my throat that I have to swallow down.
They came. They came for me.
I don’t have time to stand here. Sophie. I need to get to Sophie.
I run for the main hall. The door is unguarded now, and everyone is drawn to the fight at the perimeter. I push through it, and the room is empty. The alpha’s desk, the chairs, the shadows where Sophie stood. All empty.
No. No no no.
Where did they take her? Upstairs? Another building? If they’ve moved her during the attack, if they’re using her as a hostage—
Then I notice a door at the back. I didn’t see it last time because Sophie was standing in front of it. I try the handle. Locked. I still have the keys from the basement guard, and my fingers fumble through them, trying one, wrong, another, wrong, third—
Click.
The door opens into a small room. A cot, a blanket, a bucket. Sophie’s room is a cell too, just one with a door instead of bars.
She’s on the cot, curled into herself, hands over her ears, rocking. The sounds of the fight outside are muffled in here, but she can hear them, and she’s terrified. She doesn’t look up when the door opens. Just rocks and holds her ears and makes herself as small as possible.
“Sophie.” I drop to my knees beside the cot. “Soph, it’s me. It’s Mo. We’re leaving. Right now.”
She doesn’t move. Doesn’t respond. Her eyes are squeezed shut, and she’s somewhere far away, somewhere inside herself where the noise can’t reach her.
I put my hands on her face. Her skin is cold. Colder than it should be. The bones of her cheeks press sharply against my palms. “Sophie. Look at me. Open your eyes and look at me.”
Her eyes open. Slowly. Unfocused. They find my face, and for a second, there’s nothing, that same horrible emptiness from before. Then something flickers, deep down, faint, barely a spark.
“Mo?”
“Yeah, Soph. It’s me. I’m here, and I’m getting you out. But I need you to stand up. Can you do that for me?”
She stares at me. Her lips tremble. Then, slowly, she unfolds herself and puts her feet on the floor. Shaking so badly that she can barely stand, but upright. I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her up, taking her weight against my side.
“I’ve got you. Just stay with me.”
We make it out of the room, out of the office, and into the main hall. The noise of the fight is louder now, crashing and snarling and the crack of wood splintering. Through the windows, I can see wolves, dozens of them, tearing through the compound. The guards are overwhelmed. The north fence is down. Bodies on the ground, some wolf, some human, some in between.
I pull Sophie toward the back exit, the one that leads toward the eastern cottages and the tree line beyond. Then I hear heavy and fast footsteps behind me.
I shove Sophie behind me and spin around, the bolt raised, bloody and ready, teeth bared. Whatever’s coming through that door is going to eat four inches of metal before it gets anywhere near my sister.
The door bursts open.
I swing.