Mag-log inZahra's POVAnother howl rises from the forest, closer this time, and Zanthe answers with a low growl inside my head.‘Still following.’I know.Brant hears that one too. “Zahra.”“We're fine.”“You don't sound fucking fine.”“That's because I'm covered in glass, there's blood running down my face, my mate is unconscious in the back of the car and an unknown number of rogues are chasing us through a forest.”The silence on the phone lasts barely a heartbeat.“Goddess above, please just fucking get here.” The humour has completely disappeared from Brant's voice.“I'm doing my best, man,” Xander says, gritting his teeth as he swerves again.“I mean it,” Brant replies, his voice tightening. “Don't stop for anything. Don't wait for my warriors if you reach the boundary first. You cross it and you keep driving. We'll handle whatever follows you.”My mouth opens, but Xander's hand suddenly closes around mine.I look at him.His eyes stay on the road as he shakes his head once, barely a move
Zahra's POVThe shadows stay with us.But not constantly, which is almost fucking worse. We'll go thirty seconds, maybe a minute, without seeing anything between the trees, and each time I start to think we've finally managed to outrun them. Then the road bends, our headlights sweep across another stretch of forest, and something moves between the trunks.Sometimes it's close enough that I can make out the colour of its fur before it disappears again. Other times it's nothing more than a shape running through the darkness, there for a second before the trees swallow it.They're not keeping pace with the vehicles. They can't. Every time we hit a decent stretch of open road, Aiden pulls farther ahead and Xander stays right behind him, pushing the SUV until the engine sounds like it's fucking screaming. But the road twists through the forest while the rogues don't have to follow it. They disappear into the trees, cut across the bends and turn up again farther along.Zanthe hasn't stopped
Zahra's POVThe wind screams through the car now, whipping my hair around my face and carrying the sounds of the fight straight inside with it. Without the window, nothing is muffled anymore. Every snarl and howl reaches us clearly, along with the impacts of bodies hitting the road and the sickening sounds of wolves colliding somewhere beyond the trees.And they're still fucking coming.The wall Edwardo's soldiers built behind us has stopped most of them, but not all. Some must have already been too far ahead when the trucks blocked the road, while others are coming through the trees and completely bypassing it. It doesn't matter that they can't catch the vehicles on a straight stretch of road. They don't need to. The road curves, the trees don't, and every time we manage to pull ahead, another fucking wolf appears farther along the verge.A dark shape bursts from the trees ahead of Aiden. He jerks the truck towards the centre of the road, narrowly avoiding it, but the wolf doesn't ev
Zahra's POVThe second the road clears, Xander accelerates again, but every increase in speed means Max is being thrown around harder in the back. I look over my shoulder just as the nurse checks the monitor beside him.“His heart rate is climbing.”“What?”“It's still within acceptable limits, but all this movement is putting stress on him.”No fucking shit.“Can you do anything?”“Not unless we stop.”A sharp, completely humourless laugh escapes me as another howl sounds somewhere outside. “That's not fucking happening.”“I know.”At least she doesn't argue.Something slams into the back of the SUV before I can turn around properly. The whole car jolts, the nurse screams, and Zanthe snarls viciously inside my head as I catch a glimpse of a sandy-coloured wolf falling away from the rear window.Another is already coming.“Xander!”“I see it.”He jerks the wheel, and the wolf misses the back of the car by inches, disappearing from view. But avoiding it sends Max sliding sideways again
Zahra's POVAnother wolf bursts out of the trees.It goes for Aiden's truck again, but one of our wolves intercepts it before it reaches the road. They collide hard enough that I hear the impact from inside the car, both of them disappearing into the undergrowth in a blur of fur and teeth.Another takes its place almost immediately.Fuck. There are so many of them.Everywhere I look, there are wolves running through the trees, darting towards the road and disappearing again as our warriors meet them. I can't tell whether we're actually getting through them or whether more are simply arriving faster than we can leave them behind.The earpiece crackles again, and Xander's head tilts slightly as he listens.“Copy,” he says.“What?”“They're dropping the trucks back. All of them.”“What?”I look forwards. There are at least three Task Force trucks ahead of Aiden, maybe four. I don't even know anymore. There are more behind Zach, their headlights bouncing in my mirrors every time I look ba
Zahra's POVI glance out of the back window, but I can't see anything except the convoy behind us.Fuck, I can't do this. The tension is going to kill me. I have no idea how far we are from Night Howlers still. Brant's sending some warriors to greet us and bring us in, but how far away are we from them?More howls break through the nervous quiet of the car, and I glance out of the windows. It looks like there's more movement in the trees, but I'm not sure if it's just me seeing things in the dark.That's what I'm going to tell myself anyway.Shit.I glance behind us again. Warriors are leaping off the back of the Task Force truck, shifting mid-air and charging off into the trees.I mean, that's fucking cool. I'm fucking good at a flying shift, but these guys don't even stumble when they hit the ground at this speed. One second, they're human bodies throwing themselves off the back of a moving truck, the next they're wolves landing on all fours and immediately breaking into a sprint.I







