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The first turn catches, but the second releases it with a click. I push the cell door open and check both directions before looking back at Selena. “Let's go.”

I step into the corridor first and motion for her to follow. She's moving slower now, one hand supporting her stomach, but she doesn't complain. I stay close enough to grab her if she stumbles as we hurry away from the stairs.

“Shouldn't we be going up?” she asks.

“Not yet. That's where everyone else is going.”

Another crash sounds above us, followed by several howls. “So we're going down?”

“For now.”

“Please tell me you know where you're going.”

“I spent three years in this place. I know every way out.”

I lead Selena around the next corner and through a narrow passage hidden behind an old storage room. The camp hasn't changed much since Darian, the kids, and I escaped. I remember which tunnels connect, which ones dead end, and which passage eventually leads toward the surface without taking us directly into the fighting. Selena slows beside me, and I immediately slow with her. “I'm fine,” she says.

“I didn't ask.”

“Bossy.”

“Pregnant.”

“So were you a few days ago.”

“And look how well that worked out for me.”

She laughs under her breath. “Fair point.”

My wolf moves inside me again, stronger than before. Mate.

"Can you feel him?"

Close.

I stop so suddenly Selena nearly walks into me.

“What?”

I inhale. Damp earth, blood, rogues, Silver Moon warriors, and beneath all of it, something so familiar my heart starts pounding. Darian. “I can smell him.”

Selena's eyes widen. “Darian?”

I nod and turn toward the next tunnel as footsteps rush toward us. I immediately push Selena behind me and extend my claws as far as the remaining poison allows. A male rounds the corner. Darian. For half a second, neither of us moves. His eyes meet mine, and every bit of fear I've been holding back crashes through me at once.

Then he's running. I meet him halfway. His arms close around me so hard my feet leave the ground, and I bury my face against his neck as his scent surrounds me. My wolf surges forward with more strength than she's had since the dart hit me.

Mate!

"I know."

“Arlene.” Darian's hands move over my back before one slides into my hair. He pulls back just enough to look at my face. “Fuck, Arlene.”

“I'm okay.”

He kisses me before I can say anything else. I grab the back of his neck and kiss him just as desperately while our mate bond burns between us, no longer silent or unreachable. Then I remember the reason I told him to stay at the border. I pull away. “The kids?”

“They're safe.”