Chapter Eighteen – The Echo Chamber

The girl—Echo, or Thirteen-One, or whatever she truly was slept curled in Mira’s blanket, her breath soft, but her presence anything but.

The cabin was too quiet. Even the fire refused to crackle.

“She’s not just a child,” Ash said from the corner, arms crossed, voice low. “She’s a trigger.”

“For what?” Grey asked, sharpening a blade he hadn’t set down since the attack.

Ash didn’t answer. Mira stared into the fire, her eyes burning.

“She said there were more,” she murmured. “Caged. Like her. Some with blood like mine. Some with Liam’s face.”

Liam leaned against the wall near the door. “Why us?”

“Because they mapped us,” Ash said. “Before you were even born. Genetic resonance. Traits, instincts, rare alpha markers… they cataloged them. The ones who survived, they stored. The ones they couldn't control…” He shrugged.

“Erased,” Mira finished coldly.

The child stirred slightly, murmuring Mira’s name in her sleep. The sound cut deeper than a blade.

“What would they use her for?” Grey asked.

Ash looked at Mira. “Same thing they made me for. Contingency.”

A silence stretched long between them.

Then Mira stood. “I want answers.”

Ash raised a brow. “Where do you plan to find them?”

“Where the others are,” she said. “Wherever Echo escaped from.”

Liam frowned. “You think she could lead us back?”

“She doesn’t remember,” Mira said. “But her body does. Scent, sound, pain—it’s all stored in muscle and instinct. I can help her unlock it.”

Grey stood too. “It’s risky.”

“No,” Mira said. “Waiting is risky. They tried to snipe her, Grey. They’re wiping the evidence before the rest of us figure out what we are.”

Ash unfolded his arms. “Then you better move soon.”

Mira looked over. “Why?”

“Because the Circle doesn’t just erase mistakes. They overwrite them. If they can’t kill her… they’ll send another Echo to replace her. One better trained. Less… sentimental.”

Mira’s hands clenched into fists.

“Where’s the nearest Circle facility?” Grey asked.

Ash hesitated. “There’s an old medical outpost in the valley. Deep underground. It was decommissioned years ago… or so we thought.”

Mira nodded. “That’s our next stop.”

Liam grabbed his blades. “We go together.”

“No,” Mira said. “I go in first. Alone. If she’s a key, I might be the only one who can unlock what’s in there.”

Grey growled. “We’re not letting you walk into another trap.”

Mira looked at him, fierce and resolute. “You’re not letting me do anything. I’m already in it. This is my blood. My echo. My war.”

Her wolf surged beneath her skin, not wild, but focused. Hungry.

Ash watched her with a strange look—part awe, part fear. “You’re waking up,” he said softly.

Mira nodded. “Finally.”

She turned to the child, knelt beside her, and gently touched her shoulder.

“Echo,” she whispered.

The girl’s silver eyes opened. “Are we going now?”

Mira nodded. “Yes. And I need you to be brave.”

“I’m not afraid,” the girl said. “I saw what you become when you’re angry.”

Mira’s breath caught. “And what was that?”

The girl smiled faintly. “A storm with teeth.”

They left the cabin at dawn.

Fog veiled the trees. Ash led the way through a network of half-buried trails only someone trained by the Circle would know. Grey and Liam flanked them. Mira stayed beside the girl, their pace swift but silent.

An hour in, Echo stopped.

“I know this place,” she whispered.

Mira crouched beside her. “What do you remember?”

The girl pointed ahead. “There was a humming sound. Like machines. And a voice that always said my number when the lights turned red.”

Mira’s blood chilled.

They crept forward until the trees opened to reveal a rusted vented dome half-buried in earth and moss. Ivy twisted over reinforced steel. A keypad blinked red at the base.

Ash swore. “That’s it. Vault Three.”

Mira reached for Echo’s hand. “Ready?”

But before the girl could answer, the ground beneath them quaked.

Not naturally.

Deliberate.

Explosive.

“Get down!” Grey shouted.

The ridge behind them detonated.

And from the crater stepped five figures, armored, masked, moving in perfect unison.

Each with glowing eyes.

Not human.

Not fully wolf.

Not even fully alive.

Ash’s face went white. “They’re not guards…”

Mira rose, fury building in her chest.

“They’re replacements.”

End of Chapter Eighteen

…………………………

The Circle isn’t just hunting Mira, they’re deploying new versions. Stronger, colder, flawless copies of what she might’ve become. And now Vault Three stands between her and the truth… while her replacements step into the light.