Chapter 11

Zinnia’s POV

Joseph’s words hung in the air.

“They found us again.”

I stood up fast. June was still asleep on the couch. My heart slammed against my ribs.

Christiana moved to the window and looked down. “Three cars. Six men that I can see. Maybe more in the back seats. They are not shifting yet. They want to take us quiet.”

Rhea’s face went white. “I did not call anyone. I swear.”

Joseph’s voice was hard. “Someone tracked us. Or someone sold the location.”

He looked at me. “Get the boy. We go out the back. Now.”

I ran to June and shook him gently. “Wake up, baby. We have to move.”

He opened his eyes, confused. “Mama?”

“No time. Come.”

I lifted him into my arms. He clung to my neck. Christiana grabbed the unfinished papers from Rhea’s desk and shoved them into her jacket.

Rhea pointed to a narrow door behind a stack of boxes. “That leads to the fire escape. Then the alley. Go.”

Joseph opened the door and checked outside. “Clear for now. Move.”

We stepped onto the metal stairs. The air felt cold. Below us the alley was empty, but I could hear car doors opening on the street side.

Christiana went first. I followed with June. Joseph came last and pulled the door shut behind us.

We reached the ground. Joseph pointed left. “That way. Keep close to the wall.”

We ran. June’s arms were tight around me. My boots hit the wet ground hard. Behind us I heard shouting.

“They are on the fire escape!” a man yelled.

Joseph cursed under his breath. “Faster.”

We turned a corner into a wider alley. A chain-link fence blocked the end. Christiana did not slow down. She climbed it in seconds and dropped to the other side. I passed June over to her, then climbed after them. Joseph came last.

On the other side was a small parking lot behind a closed store. Joseph pointed to an old blue van parked in the corner.

“That one. Keys are under the front tire. I left it here as backup.”

Christiana found the keys and unlocked the doors. We climbed in. Joseph took the driver’s seat. The engine started with a rough sound.

Just as he pulled out of the lot, two men ran around the corner. One of them raised a hand and something dark flew through the air.

A small metal object hit the side of the van hard. Smoke started pouring in through the vents.

“Hold your breath!” Joseph shouted.

He drove straight through a low wooden fence and onto a side road. The van shook. June coughed against my shoulder. I pressed his face into my jacket and tried to cover his mouth and nose.

Christiana opened the back windows. Fresh air rushed in. The smoke thinned.

Joseph’s eyes stayed on the road. “They are using sleep gas. They want us alive.”

“Ciro’s people,” Christiana said. Her voice was tight. “They sell rare bloodlines. They do not kill the product if they can help it.”

My stomach turned. “They want me and June.”

“Yes.”

Joseph took a hard right, then another left. The van leaned heavily. I held June tighter and braced my feet.

After ten minutes of sharp turns the road opened into a longer stretch of trees. Joseph slowed a little.

“I think we lost them for now,” he said. “But they will set up road checks soon. We cannot stay on main roads.”

Christiana looked at the papers she had grabbed. “These are only half done. Names and photos are missing. We will need another way to get proper documents.”

I stared at the back of Joseph’s head. “How did they find us so fast? We only arrived an hour ago.”

Joseph’s hands tightened on the wheel. “Either Rhea sold us out… or someone is tracking one of us.”

Christiana pulled a small device from her pocket and scanned the van. The light stayed green. “No tracker on the vehicle.”

She turned and scanned me, then June, then Joseph. When she reached Joseph’s jacket the light turned red.

Joseph pulled over hard onto the shoulder of the road. He got out, tore off the jacket, and threw it on the ground. Christiana crushed a small black piece of metal under her boot.

“When?” Joseph asked, voice low and angry.

“Must have been during the fight at the cabin,” Christiana said. “One of them got close enough to plant it.”

Joseph slammed his hand against the side of the van. “I should have checked.”

I stepped out with June still in my arms. “So they have been listening and following since last night.”

“Yes,” Christiana said.

June lifted his head. “Mama, I am scared.”

“I know,” I whispered. “We are going to keep moving.”

Joseph looked at me. His face was full of guilt. “I am sorry. This is on me.”

“You did not plant it,” I said. “But we cannot keep making mistakes.”

Christiana opened the back of the van and pulled out a small bag. “Change of clothes. Water. Some food. We take what we need and leave the van. It is burned now.”

We moved into the trees on foot. Joseph carried the bag. Christiana led the way. I kept June close.

After twenty minutes of walking we reached a narrow stream. Christiana stopped and listened.

“No one close,” she said. “We rest five minutes. Then we keep going north.”

I sat on a rock and gave June water from a bottle. He drank and then leaned against me.

Joseph stood a few feet away with his arms crossed. “The seal on your power… if it keeps breaking, they will feel you from farther and farther away. That is why Ciro’s people are so determined. You are becoming a beacon.”

I looked down at my hands. “Then I stop using the power.”

Christiana shook her head. “It is too late for that. The cracks are already there. Every strong emotion will push it open more. Fear. Anger. Protectiveness for the boy. It will keep growing.”

Joseph walked closer. “We need a place where the land itself can hide you. Old places. Places with strong natural barriers. I know one. An abandoned sanctuary two days north of here. The ground there messes with scent and power signatures. We used it years ago during a pack war.”

“Will it hold?” I asked.

“For a while. Long enough to finish the papers another way and plan the next move.”

June spoke in a small voice. “Are the bad men going to take me away from Mama?”

I held him tighter. “No. I will not let them.”

Joseph crouched down so his eyes were level with June’s. “Listen to me, little man. Your mother is strong. Stronger than those men know. We are going to keep both of you safe.”

June stared at him for a long moment, then nodded once.

Christiana stood up. “Time to move. They will spread out and search the woods soon.”

We started walking again. The trees were thick. The ground was soft from the rain. Every few minutes Christiana stopped and checked behind us.

My mind kept turning over everything. The ancient bloodline. The seal that was breaking. Ciro’s hunters who sold rare wolves. Joseph’s family tied to the same man. And somewhere far behind us, Draven was dealing with Baelor’s growing moves.

I felt the power under my skin, restless, pushing against the last pieces of the seal. It wanted out. It wanted to protect. It wanted to burn everything that threatened my son.

Joseph walked beside me for a stretch. He spoke low so June would not hear.

“When the seal breaks fully, you will need someone who can help you control it. I have seen power like that tear people apart if they are not ready.”

“I will manage,” I said.

“You do not have to manage alone.”

I looked at him. “Every time you say that, another secret comes out.”

He did not argue. He just nodded once and kept walking.

After another hour the trees opened into a small clearing with an old stone foundation. Christiana raised her hand and we stopped.

She sniffed the air. Her face changed.

“Smoke,” she said. “And blood. Fresh.”

Joseph moved in front of us. “Stay here.”

He and Christiana walked forward slowly. I waited with June, every muscle tight.

They came back two minutes later. Joseph’s face was darker than before.

“What is it?” I asked.

He looked straight at me.

“Ciro’s men are not the only ones hunting us anymore. Someone else was here less than an hour ago. They killed two of Ciro’s trackers and left a message on the stones.”

Christiana’s voice was quiet.

“The message is for you, Zinnia. It says: ‘The boy belongs to the true blood. Come home before the full moon or we take him.’”

My blood went cold.

Joseph finished it.

“And it is signed with the Frost Pack seal… but the handwriting is not Draven’s.”