The concrete wall exploded inward with a deafening crack. Debris scattered across the polished floor of Malakor's bunker as Kaelen's forces poured through the breach like a lethal tide. I kept close to Kaelen's side as we entered, my heart hammering against my ribs.
"Fan out!" Kaelen commanded, his voice carrying over the chaos. "Secure the perimeter!"
The interior was nothing like the sewer lair we'd raided before. This bunker was pristine, a fortress clearly built for the long game. Steel-reinforced walls. Military-grade security systems. Emergency power generators humming in the background. Malakor had been preparing for this confrontation for longer than I'd been alive.
We barely made it twenty feet when the first wave of resistance hit us.
"Contact front!" someone shouted, just before gunfire erupted.
I ducked behind a concrete pillar as bullets pinged off metal surfaces around us. Kaelen crouched beside me, his eyes glowing a vibrant emerald as his wolf pushed forward.
