Vale's POV
The first gunshot shattered the cabin window above my head.
Glass rained down on me as I dove behind the kitchen counter, my heart hammering against my ribs. Dante cursed and grabbed me, pulling me lower as more bullets punched holes through the wooden walls.
"Stay down," he hissed in my ear. "Whatever happens, don't move from this spot."
"Who's shooting at us?" I whispered, but Dante was already crawling toward the front door, keeping below the windows.
Outside, I could hear men shouting orders to each other. Heavy boots stomped around the cabin, surrounding us. These weren't random criminals. They moved like soldiers, organized and deadly.
"We know you're in there, Blackthorne," a man called from outside. His voice was cold and professional. "Send out the girl and we might let you live."
Dante's silver eyes flashed with anger. "Over my dead body."
"That can be arranged," the man replied. "You've got thirty seconds to decide."
More glass exploded as bullets tore through every window in the cabin. I pressed my face against the floor, covering my head with my hands. Splinters of wood flew everywhere, and the smell of gunpowder filled the air.
"Twenty seconds," the voice called.
Dante looked back at me, and something in his face made my stomach drop. He was saying goodbye.
"Listen to me carefully," he said, crawling back to where I hid. "There's a trapdoor under the rug by the fireplace. When I give you the signal, run for it. Climb down and follow the tunnel. It leads to a cave about a mile away."
"What about you?"
"I'll hold them off as long as I can."
"You can't fight all of them alone," I said desperately. "There must be at least six men out there."
Dante smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile. It was the smile of a predator about to hunt. "You're about to learn something about werewolves, Vale. We're very hard to kill."
"Time's up," the man outside shouted. "Take the cabin."
The front door exploded inward as someone kicked it open. Dark shapes poured through the doorway, rifles raised and ready to fire. But Dante was already moving.
I watched in shock as his body began to change.
His bones cracked and stretched. His muscles grew larger. His hands turned into claws, and his teeth became fangs. Dark fur sprouted all over his skin as his face pushed forward into a snout.
In less than five seconds, the man I'd been talking to was gone. In his place stood the massive black wolf I'd met in the forest.
The first gunman through the door stopped dead when he saw Dante in his wolf form. That moment of surprise cost him his life.
Dante leaped across the room faster than my eyes could follow. The man screamed as powerful jaws clamped down on his throat, cutting off the sound forever. His rifle clattered to the floor.
"What the hell is that thing?" another gunman yelled.
"Shoot it! Shoot it now!"
Gunfire erupted inside the cabin. But Dante was no longer where the bullets were aimed. He moved like lightning, jumping from wall to floor to ceiling, using his claws to climb surfaces no human could reach.
One by one, the gunmen fell.
Dante was beautiful and terrible to watch. His wolf body flowed like water, avoiding bullets that should have hit him. When he attacked, it was over in seconds. No human could match his speed or strength.
But there were too many of them.
For every man Dante took down, two more came through the door. Soon the small cabin was full of gunfire and shouting. Dante was fighting six men at once, and even with his supernatural abilities, he couldn't be everywhere.
A bullet grazed his shoulder, spinning him around. Another caught him in the leg, making him stumble. Blood matted his black fur as more shots found their mark.
"Now, Vale," Dante's voice somehow reached me even though he was in wolf form. "Run now."
I didn't want to leave him, but I could see he was losing the fight. Every second I stayed put him in more danger. I crawled toward the fireplace on my hands and knees, bullets whining over my head.
The rug came up easily, revealing a wooden trapdoor underneath. I grabbed the metal handle and pulled. The door was heavier than I expected, but fear gave me strength.
Below was a narrow tunnel that disappeared into darkness. I had no idea where it led, but anywhere was better than this war zone.
I dropped through the opening just as a man spotted me.
"The girl's getting away," he shouted. "She's in the tunnels."
Heavy footsteps ran toward the trapdoor, but they never made it. Dante's snarl filled the air, followed by screams that cut off abruptly.
I ran through the tunnel as fast as I could in the pitch black. My hands touched the walls to guide me, and my feet found the path by feel. Behind me, the sounds of fighting grew fainter but never stopped completely.
The tunnel seemed to go on forever. My lungs burned and my legs ached, but I kept running. I couldn't help Dante by getting caught.
Finally, I saw a dim light ahead. The tunnel opened into a small cave, just like Dante had promised. Moonlight filtered through a crack in the rocks, giving me just enough light to see.
I collapsed on the cave floor, gasping for breath and listening for any sign that someone had followed me. But the tunnel behind me was silent.
Minutes passed. Then I heard footsteps.
I pressed myself against the cave wall, hardly daring to breathe. If the gunmen had found the tunnel, I was trapped. There was nowhere else to run.
But the figure that emerged from the darkness was Dante, back in human form. His clothes were torn and bloody, and he limped badly on his left leg. Cuts and bullet wounds covered his arms and chest.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, dropping down beside me.
"I'm fine. But you're not." I could see at least three bullet holes in him, and blood was still flowing from the worst one. "You need a doctor."
"I'll heal," Dante said tiredly. "Werewolves recover from most wounds if we're given time."
"Did you kill all of them?"
"Most of them. Three got away." His silver eyes were grim. "They'll be back with more men."
"Who were they? How did they find us?"
"I don't know," Dante admitted. "But they weren't ordinary criminals. They moved like military, and they had expensive equipment. Someone with serious money sent them."
I was about to ask more questions when we heard a weak voice calling from the tunnel entrance. One of the gunmen had crawled after us, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
Dante tensed, ready to finish what he'd started, but the man was clearly dying. Blood bubbled from his mouth as he tried to speak.
"Wait," I said, grabbing Dante's arm. "He's trying to say something."
We crept closer to the wounded man. His eyes were already glazing over, but he managed to whisper a few words that made my blood run cold.
"The boss... knows about... the moon child," he gasped. Then his head fell back and he went still forever.
Dante and I stared at each other in the dim cave light.
"Moon child?" I whispered. "What does that mean?"
But the look in Dante's silver eyes told me he knew exactly what it meant.
And that it had everything to do with me.