Metal screamed twice before the world went still.
Dust drifted through the cab like gray snow. Lily hung upside-down, seat-belt biting her ribs, blood ticking from a split brow.
In the roof-well, Finn's small fingers twitched against her neck—warm, alive. Daisy whimpered somewhere deeper in the dark.
Outside, gravel popped under boots.
Lily pressed a hand over Finn's mouth. "Quiet game," she mouthed.
He nodded, tears slipping into her collar.
She reached left—Kade's jacket, empty. Right—her father's wrist, slick with blood but pulsing. No Kade.
Wind carried Victor's voice: "Spread out. Scent'll be everywhere."
Torch beams flicked across the cracked windshield.
Lily bit the seat-belt latch. It released; she crashed onto the dome of the roof. Glass grit bit her palms.
She rolled, gathering twins, pressing them under the bent dashboard.
A boot thudded against the driver door. Handle rattled.
"Locked," a guard muttered.
"Then shoot it," Victor answered, closer now.
Metal kissed metal—rifle charging.
Lily flattened over the twins.
The shot exploded; glass showered. A hand plunged through, groping for anything soft.
She caught the wrist, yanked hard. The guard's forehead smacked the frame; he sagged, stunned.
She stripped his side-arm, cold and heavy, flicked safety off.
Boots crunched—three sets, maybe four.
She peered through the shattered window. Victor stood ten paces back, rocket launcher propped on his hip, hair singed, smile intact.
Flames still licked the mountain behind him—orange halo against night.
"Come out, little moon. Pups first."
Lily thumbed the pistol hammer. Her hands shook so hard the barrel tapped the steering column.
From the ditch shadows, a low growl rose—primal, furious.
Kade stepped into the torchlight, naked, covered in crash dust, eyes molten silver.
He didn't speak. He simply walked toward Victor, claws sliding from human knuckles.
Victor lifted the launcher. "One more step and the truck becomes a crater."
Kade stopped. Shoulders rose, fell.
Lily used the seconds. She shoved the pistol into her waistband, hoisted twins through the busted rear window, lowering them onto cold grass.
"Crawl to the trees. Quiet as breath."
Daisy clutched Finn's sleeve; they disappeared into darkness.
Her father stirred, coughing wet. "Go," he rasped.
She pressed a kiss to his temple, tasted smoke and salt. "Back for you."
She slipped out after the twins, belly-flat to gravel.
A guard rounded the tailgate. She rose behind him, slammed the pistol butt into his temple. He dropped.
She took his rifle, slung it across her back.
Ahead, Kade's voice carried, calm. "You want me. Let them go."
Victor laughed. "Trade yourself for the woman and pups? Noble. But I need the silver eyes."
Kade's claws lengthened. "Then come take them."
Victor jerked the launcher toward the truck. "I'll melt the metal until the eyes float in slag."
Kade lunged.
Rifle barrels rose.
Lily stepped into the light. "Victor."
He paused, gaze flicking. She stood sideways, rifle loose, blocking the twins' escape path.
"Let Kade walk," she said. "I'll bring the pups."
Kade's head snapped. "Lily—"
She didn't look at him. "Keys to the cuffs. Now."
Victor's smile spread. He tossed a small key into the dust between them. "Pups first."
She nodded, walked forward, kicked the key toward Kade.
He scooped it, eyes never leaving her face.
Victor gestured; guards lowered rifles.
Lily turned, called softly, "Daisy, Finn. Come."
The twins emerged from shadow, hands linked, trembling.
Torchlight caught their silver irises—moon in miniature.
Gasps rippled through the guards. One crossed himself.
Victor's pupils flared—hunger pure.
Lily led them forward, each step a hammer on her ribs.
Ten paces from Victor she stopped. "Release Kade."
Victor snapped fingers. A guard unlocked Kade's cuffs.
Kade rubbed his wrists, gaze locked on Lily. "Plan?" he mouthed.
She gave the tiniest shake of head.
Victor extended a hand. "Children."
Lily knelt, gathered twins close, voice a thread. "When I squeeze your hands, drop flat. Understand?"
Two small nods against her cheeks.
She stood, stepped aside. "Go."
The twins walked forward, slow, tiny boots kicking dust.
Victor crouched, arms open. "Good pups."
Three paces away.
Two.
One.
Lily squeezed.
Twins dropped flat.
She swung the rifle up, fired from the hip.
The guard beside Victor took the round in the shoulder, spun, weapon flying.
Kade exploded forward—claws raking air.
Lily dove, covering the twins.
Chaos erupted—shots, snarls, screams.
Kade reached Victor, knocked the launcher aside. It skittered, useless.
Victor drew a side-arm, pressed it under Kade's chin.
"Call her off," he hissed.
Kade's claws rested against Victor's throat, beads of blood forming. "Shoot me, you die a second later."
Lily rose, rifle steady on Victor's forehead. "Let him go."
Victor's eyes slid to the twins crouched behind her. "You won't fire. Ricochet kills kids."
"Try me."
Wind howled through the standoff.
From the ridge above, a new sound—engines, many, growling closer. Headlights poured over the lip like liquid sun.
The elder's convoy—pack trucks, dirt bikes, wolf flags whipping.
Tires skidded. Wolves leapt out, half-shifted, weapons raised.
Victor's guards scrambled, unsure.
The elder stepped forward, tranq rifle reloaded. "Lower guns, human."
Victor laughed, pressed the pistol harder under Kade's jaw. "Back or brains paint the sky."
The elder's eyes flicked to Lily—question.
She felt the seconds thinning.
Her father's voice drifted from the wreck, weak but steady. "Portal… two miles west… run."
She glanced at Kade. His silver eyes held hers—calm, ready.
She nodded once.
Kade's claw sliced sideways—deep across Victor's throat.
Blood fountained.
Victor's pistol fired—bullet punching sky as he collapsed, gurgling.
Guards froze.
Lily grabbed twins, sprinted for the nearest pack truck.
Kade followed, pressing a hand to the dripping graze along his neck.
Wolves closed ranks, forming a living wall.
The elder tossed Lily keys. "Service tunnel under old ranger tower. Leads to a cave. Go."
She jumped into the cab, twins clambering after.
Kade slid on the passenger side, slammed the door.
The engine roared.
Tires spun.
Behind them, Victor's body convulsed—then stilled.
The pack opened fire—tranqs and bullets—driving remaining guards back.
Lily floored the accelerator, truck fishtailing onto dirt trail.
Dust clouded the rear-view, hiding the battlefield.
Her hands shook so hard the steering wheel vibrated.
Kade reached across, squeezed her knuckles. "Breathe."
She sucked air, tasted copper and smoke.
Ahead, a narrow sign read RANGER TOWER 1 mi.
Finn whispered, "Daddy bleeding."
Kade pressed his palm to the neck wound, blood seeping between fingers. "Just paint. Keep driving."
The trail narrowed, branches scraping metal.
The tower appeared—abandoned, windows star-broken.
Beside it, a steel hatch lay half-buried in leaves.
Lily braked hard.
They piled out. She lifted the hatch—rust screamed—revealing concrete stairs descending into black.
Cold air breathed out, smelling of wet stone and old secrets.
Kade took the lead, phone flashlight guiding.
Lily followed, twins clasped to her sides.
Above, distant engines revved—pursuit reorganizing.
She pulled the hatch closed, darkness swallowing them.
Footsteps echoed down the spiral.
At the bottom, a narrow tunnel stretched, lined with glowing moss—blue, pulsing.
Her father's word echoed: Portal.
They moved faster, boots splashing shallow puddles.
Behind, metal groaned—the hatch forced open.
Torch beams flickered far above.
Kade's light caught a dead end—solid rock.
No door. No handle.
Lily's pulse spiked.
She stepped forward, placed her palm on stone.
It hummed—low, alive.
Twin paws pressed beside hers—Daisy and Finn touching the wall.
Blue veins ignited beneath their hands, spider-webbing across rock.
A crack appeared, widening into a jagged mouth.
Beyond, darkness swirled with stars—like looking up at night sky, but sideways.
Wind howled out, tasting of pine and snow.
Kade exhaled. "One step erases scent."
Lily glanced back—torch beams bouncing closer, voices echoing.
She squeezed Kade's hand. "Together."
They stepped through.
Cold swallowed them—then warmth, sudden, summer-sweet.
The crack sealed behind with a soft sigh, blue veins fading to nothing.
Silence.
Ahead, moonlight spilled across an underground lake—water black as oil, surface mirror-still.
On the far shore, a second archway shimmered—exit, or deeper trap.
Lily started forward—
The lake rippled.
Something large moved beneath, shadow longer than the truck.
Kade raised the flashlight.
A single silver eye blinked back from the depths.
The water parted.
A hand—scaled, webbed, claw-tipped—reached for the edge.
Lily stepped in front of the twins, rifle rising.
The hand paused, fingers drumming stone.
A voice rose, wet and ancient: "Payment for passage."
Kade's claw slid out. "We have nothing."
The lake surface split into a smile of black water. "Every heart carries something."
Behind them, the sealed wall groaned—metal striking rock.
Pursuit had found the door.
Lily's finger tightened on the trigger.
The silver eye narrowed. "Choose who stays. The rest may pass."
Kade moved forward. "Take me."
"No," Lily snapped.
The eye rolled to her. "Decide, or all drown."
The wall behind cracked—first fissure spidering.
Torchlight flickered through dust.
Lily's heart hammered against her tongue.
She looked at Kade, at the twins, at her own reflection trembling on black water.
The clawed hand tapped, waiting.
The wall groaned again—louder—ready to burst.
She drew a breath that tasted of endings.
"Fine," she whispered. "But not who you think."
She raised the rifle, aimed past the hand—into the eye.
Trigger squeezed.
Muzzle flash lit the cave.
The lake exploded in a roar of pain, water spraying like shattered glass.
The silver eye vanished into churning black.
Behind, the wall shattered—torch beams pouring in.
Kade grabbed Lily's hand. "RUN!"
They sprinted along the narrow shore toward the far arch.
The lake behind them boiled, something massive thrashing, screaming.
Guards burst through the breach, rifles up—then froze at the sight of the thrashing shadow.
One screamed.
Another fired into the water.
The shadow surged, dragged him under.
Lily didn't look back.
She leapt through the arch, twins pulled tight, Kade on her heels.
Cold light blinded.
Ground vanished.
They fell—into nothing, into stars, into a howl that might have been wind or might have been their own voices.
Above, the arch sealed with a sound like a book slamming shut.
Darkness swallowed them whole.
Somewhere far below, water dripped.
Somewhere even farther, something else breathed—patient, waiting.
The fall continued.
No end in sight