LOGINZane's POVI wake to pale sunlight filtering through the cabin's dusty windows.For a moment, I'm disoriented— this isn't my bed, this isn't my room. Then everything crashes back. The rescue. The escape. Kaidora sleeping peacefully in my arms, finally safe.For now.Through the bond, I feel her exhaustion. She's still deep in sleep, her body recovering from days of terror and deprivation in that cell. I don't want to wake her, but I need to check in with the others.Carefully, I extract myself from her embrace and slip out of the bedroom.Warren is in the kitchen, brewing coffee on an old camping stove. He looks as exhausted as I feel— neither of us got much real sleep.“Morning.” He says quietly. “Marcus is outside doing a perimeter check. No signs of pursuit yet.” “Yet being the operative word.” I accept the cup of coffee he offers. “How long before Father tracks us here?”“Hard to say.” Warren leans against the counter. “Connor's been monitoring pack communications. Father is conv
Kaidora's POVFreedom feels surreal.I'm in the backseat of a car, pressed against Zane's side, watching pack territory disappear behind us through the rear window. My heart is still racing, adrenaline coursing through my veins so intensely I'm shaking.I'm out. I'm actually out of that cell.“Where are we going?” My voice comes out hoarse from disuse and emotion.“Somewhere safe.” Marcus answers from the driver's seat, his eyes constantly checking the mirrors. “Somewhere Alpha Rowan can't immediately reach.”“There's no such place.” The reality crashes down on my temporary euphoria. “He'll find me. He'll—”“He won't.” Zane's arm tightens around me. “We're not letting him near you again.”Through the bond, I feel his fierce determination. But I also feel his fear. Because he knows as well as I do that escaping the cell was only the first step.Now comes the hard part. Staying free.“They discovered the empty cell faster than we expected.” Warren speaks from the passenger seat, scrolli
Warren's POVConnor's apartment has transformed into a command center.Maps cover every surface. Supplies are organized into packs— flashlights, rope, first aid kit, the tranquilizer darts Connor acquired. Everyone moves with quiet efficiency, the weight of what we're about to do pressing down on all of us.“Final check.” I stand at the center of the room, clipboard in hand. “Marcus, you're positioned at the north access point. What's your role?”“Lookout and extraction backup.” Marcus recites without hesitation. “If security mobilizes, I create a distraction at the east wing. Draw guards away from your exit route.”“Jake and Devon?”“Perimeter watch.” Jake answers. “We monitor patrol patterns, alert via text if anything changes. If you're compromised, we trigger the fire alarm again to create chaos.”“Connor?”“Communications hub.” He gestures to his laptop setup. “I'm monitoring pack channels, police scanners, emergency frequencies. Any change in security status, I notify everyone i
Kaidora's POVHe came.Zane actually came.I sit with my back against the cold stone wall, replaying his whispered words through the door. ‘Tomorrow night. We're getting you out of here.’Hope— fragile and terrifying— blooms in my chest. Hope I'd deliberately crushed down, convinced it would only make the end more painful. But now it's back, insistent and impossible to ignore.One more day. Twenty-four hours until rescue or disaster.The flickering bulb continues its steady rhythm, but now instead of counting down to death, it feels like counting down to possibility.Through the bond, I feel Zane's determination. He's not close anymore— back on the surface, probably planning with Warren and whoever else is helping. But the bond carries his emotions clearly. Love. Fear. Fierce protectiveness.He's really going to try to save me.The thought should bring pure relief. Instead, it brings a complicated mixture of hope and terror. Because what if they fail? What if Alpha Rowan catches them
Zane's POVThe tunnel entrance is exactly where Warren said it would be— hidden beneath the old groundskeeper's shed, covered by rotting floorboards that look like they haven't been disturbed in years.“This is it.” Warren pulls the boards aside, revealing the metal grate underneath. “Once we're down there, communication with the surface will be spotty. We stay together, we move carefully, and we don't take unnecessary risks.”I nod, my heart pounding so hard I'm sure he can hear it. Through the bond, I feel Kaidora— still terrified, still resigned to her fate. She has no idea we're coming. No idea that in just over twenty-four hours, we're going to get her out.Warren descends first, his flashlight beam cutting through the darkness below. I follow, my feet finding the metal rungs of a ladder that feels disturbingly unstable.The air changes as we go deeper— cooler, damper, with a musty smell that speaks of decades without maintenance. My wolf instincts rebel against the enclosed spac
Warren's POVConnor's apartment has become our war room.By the time Zane returns from meeting with Amber, the coffee table is covered with hastily drawn maps, printed building schematics Connor managed to pull from city archives, and my own rough sketches of the tunnel system from memory.“Any luck?” Marcus asks as Zane walks in, looking exhausted.“Maybe.” Zane sinks into one of the mismatched chairs. “Amber's going through her grandmother's journals tonight. Looking for anything about curses, blood rituals, anything that might help us understand what we're dealing with.”“Understanding it doesn't help us stop it.” Devon's voice is pragmatic. “We need a way into those cells. Everything else is secondary.”“I know.” Zane scrubs a hand over his face. “What did you find while I was gone?”I gesture to the maps spread across the table. “Good news and bad news. Good news— there are at least three tunnel access points that could potentially lead to the sub-basement. Bad news— none of them







