“Where’s the last one?” I demanded, shifting back mid-stride, barely registering the cold air hitting my skin.
“I thought you had him,” said one of the enforcers in confusion.
“I took one into the trees. He’s down,” I agreed, “But I count five.”
Silence fell, heavy and wrong. My heart started pounding again, harder this time. This wasn’t finished.
“Mason?” I called, turning toward the trees.
No answer. Fear spiked sharp and immediate.
I moved before anyone could stop me, grabbing a pair of pants from where I’d left them and yanking them on as I ran toward the direction Mason and Kai had gone.
Branches whipped past me. The forest felt too quiet now. I shifted back to wolf form so I could track better.
“Levi!” His voice came back, strained but there. Relief hit me so hard my knees almost gave.
I followed the sound and found them crouched behind a fallen log, Kai clinging to Mason like he was afraid to let go. Mason looked up at me, eyes wide, face pale.
“I’m fine,” he told me. “Kai’s okay too.”
Kai nodded quickly, though his hands were still shaking. Relief hit like a tidal wave, powerful enough to drag me under if I let it.
For a moment, I just stood there in my wolf form, chest heaving, lungs dragging in the cool forest air, eyes locked on Mason like I needed the constant proof that he was still there.
I stepped closer, lowering my head, nudging against his shoulder. I rumbled low in my chest. Mason’s hand came up automatically, fingers threading into the thick fur at my neck.
“I’m okay,” he murmured again, softer this time. For me.
I exhaled slowly, pressing into his touch for half a second longer than I should’ve. Then I forced myself back.
Focus.One was still missing.
The unease hadn’t left. It coiled tighter in my gut now, sharper, more insistent. The forest around us felt wrong. Too still. Too quiet. Like it was holding its breath, watching and waiting.
I lifted my head, nostrils flaring, dragging in scent after scent. Blood, gunpowder, fear, and underneath it was a faint and unfamiliar scent. The missing man. My hackles rose instantly.
Mason must’ve felt it too, because his hand stilled against my fur. “Levi?”
I didn’t take my eyes off the trees. Something moved. A shift in the shadows, barely there. The kind of movement most people would miss. Not me, and certainly not my wolf.
A low, warning growl built in my chest, teeth baring as I stepped forward, putting myself between Mason and the direction of that scent.
“Stand down.” The cold voice cut through the trees like a blade.
My blood ran ice. Daniel. He stepped out from between the trees, shotgun already raised, barrel steady and unflinching as it pointed straight at me.
Every muscle in my body locked. My wolf exploded forward again, rage slamming into me so hard it made my vision blur at the edges. Not yet, I told him. I could end him. I knew I could.
The distance between us wasn’t much. One good lunge, and he was a goner.
The shotgun shifted from me to Mason. I couldn’t do a thing as Daniel moved so close, he pressed the barrel against Mason’s forehead. Everything inside me went still.
Daniel smiled. He knew he had the upper hand now.
“Much better,” he said softly.
Behind me, I could feel Mason freeze. Could hear Kai’s breathing hitch, fast and panicked. I growled at him.
