Chapter 15

{Casper’s Pov}

We exited the stone tent with fear and trembling. Dreading the fact that one wrong move could alert that monster.

Mom leaned heavily on me, her breath shallow but steady, her steps slow. I had one arm around her waist, the other showing my extended claws. We had to be alert. The scent of the camp’s carnage clung to us both — smoke, blood, and that metallic scent from the shackles.

We didn't make it far before a whistle split the air.

And I froze, staring in the distance as the second flare arced into the sky, pulsing blue.

“They're safe,” I said to Mom.

That was the second signal we prepared. The others had made it out — decoy and infiltration teams both.

My heart thumped with relief, the plan had been an absolute success. Save for that one inconvenience. I felt ease wash over me.

Until it stopped… Because the night didn’t stay still.

I got a whiff of its scent before it appeared before us. A shape stepped into the open clearing ahead of us, framed by the torchlit bo