{ Mia }
The air was thick — musty with damp stone, old sweat, and something sour that clung to the walls like rot. It smelled like fear. Stale. Used. Forgotten.
Through the mind link, Lex grumbled, still growling outwardly like a proper wild beast.
"Yo, Hunter—Ace—whatever you're calling yourself these days," he said. "Got any genius escape plans?"
"Why not ask Mia?" Ace snapped. "She's the brain here. And unlike you, she doesn't run her mouth every two seconds—"
CLANK.
The heavy door groaned open, cutting him off mid-thought.
The golden wolf stepped inside — no longer a beast, but a man again. Same golden-brown hair, same unreadable amber eyes. Still barefoot, still silent.
But this time…
He was looking straight at me.
He didn't speak. Just studied us. One step forward. Then another.
Lex let out a soft warning growl. Ace shifted his stance subtly in front of me. I stayed perfectly still, eyes narrowed, trying to read him back.
Then—
A static pulse ticked behind my ear.
Scarlett.
Her voice was crisp, urgent, and only in my head.
"Don't react. All of you — drop. Now. Trust me."
"Wait, what?" I replied. "Why?"
"A sedative mist is being released through the vents. It's not strong, but it'll hit soon. You need to fake it first — make it believable. If you drop first, they won't suspect anything. Faint. Now."
I didn't hesitate.
My legs buckled and I collapsed, head lolling sideways with a convincing thud.
"Lex. Ace. Down. Now."
They followed instantly. All three of us hit the ground in staggered falls, limbs limp, breath shallow but even.
The golden man paused.
His eyes narrowed — suspicious. Calculating. Then he exhaled slowly through his nose, muttering something under his breath in a language I didn't recognize.
He turned to the guards outside the cell.
"Get the girl," he said coolly. "Bring her to the potion room. Leave the others here, but keep eyes on them. They're not just wolves."
The guards moved fast.
One stepped in and unlatched the cell door. Another grabbed me roughly by the scruff, dragging my limp body out across the floor like I weighed nothing. I let my limbs swing naturally, kept my breathing slow — just faint enough to be convincing.
Behind my closed lids, I heard Lex's voice echo in the link, woozy but trying to be funny.
"You better have a plan, genius."
"Trust Scarlett," I whispered back.
"This is part of it."
Ace said nothing. But I felt his presence steady — alert — watching.
Waiting.
And as I was pulled through the stone hallway toward some mysterious "potion room," one thought pulsed louder than the rest:
This guy has no idea what kind of wolves we really are.
The room was dimly lit — flickering with the greenish hue of old magic and sterile light.
I was dragged across the floor and shoved into a small cage. Cold metal walls. Reinforced bars. No lock visible, just a smooth panel with a faint red glow.
The man stood a few feet away, arms folded, his golden eyes unreadable.
"Call Lyra," he said to one of the guards. "Now."
A few tense moments passed, then the door creaked open. A woman stepped in.
Tall. Sharp features. Silver hair braided down her back. Her presence crackled like frost — cool and confident.
Lyra.
She barely glanced at the guards before her eyes landed on me.
"That's what you brought me?" she said, brows raised. "It's just a wolf."
I held perfectly still, my eyes wide, ears back. Timid. Animal.
"Test her," the man ordered, his tone clipped.
Lyra hesitated, then rolled her eyes. "Fine."
She stepped closer to my cage and reached into a pouch at her belt, pulling out a small vial of glowing blue liquid and a silvery needle. Her hands were steady. Expert.
Scarlett's voice buzzed into my mind.
"Okay, Mia. This is a basic essence test. She's checking magical residue. You're going to feel a pinch. Flinch a little. Then whimper, like an injured pup."
The needle pricked my skin — not deep, but enough.
I let out a faint, frightened whimper and flinched back, my tail curling tight to my body.
Lyra studied the vial as it turned… a dull gray.
She frowned. "No reaction. She's just a scared little wolf."
The man didn't speak. He narrowed his eyes.
Lyra pulled out a second object — a stone, faintly glowing red.
"Aura pressure test," she muttered, placing the stone against the bars. "This'll cause a shift if she's hiding one."
Scarlett again.
"Don't react. Not even your heartbeat. Let your body go loose and limp. Just blink like you don't understand it."
The stone pulsed.
Heat radiated off it.
I blinked slowly. Tucked my tail tighter. Licked my nose once.
Lyra sighed.
"She's just a wolf," she repeated. "A scared little one at that."
Still, the man didn't look away from me.
He took a slow step forward, crouching just a little to meet my gaze through the bars.
I stayed limp. Small. Fragile.
His voice was low. "You don't fool me."
He stood and waved a hand at the guards. "Move all three of them. I want them where I can see them."
—
We were relocated.
But this wasn't just another cell.
It was high above the city — a chamber attached to his private quarters. Walls reinforced with glowing tech. Blue runes etched into the corners pulsed like a heartbeat. The floor was cool steel, the air humming with enchantments and scanners.
A high-tech prison.
One wrong move, and we'd be vaporized, caged, or worse.
We were placed side by side — still in wolf form — separated by thin barriers of magic and steel, but within view of one another.
The golden man stood on the far side of the room, silent again, just watching us.
Waiting for one of us to slip.
Scarlett whispered in my mind.
"Good job. He's suspicious, but not sure. We bought time."
"How much?" I asked.
"Enough. But not forever."
And as the door sealed behind him and he disappeared into his chambers, I realized one thing:
We weren't out of danger.
We were just in the lion's den.
Literally.