Locke
The first panther walks out of the trees.
Not charging. Walking.
I see it immediately — the size, the way it carries itself, Shadow House from the set of its shoulders — and then the second one steps out beside it. Then a third.
A raven lands in the branch above them. Just sits there.
They stop at the tree line.
Just stand there.
Behind me the Hollow erupts. A woman screams a name. Doors slam. Brent’s voice cuts through — orders, fast, clear. Minerva somewhere to my right, standing with her people.
I respect that.
I don’t look back. Don’t look away from the treeline.
More shifters emerge. Panthers mostly. Two black wolves flanking. A viper low in the grass that I almost miss — almost.
Cal’s with Jonah at the bunker entrance. I catch it in my peripheral. Moving people through. Good.
Nova takes a step forward.
I put my hand on her arm. She looks at me. The air between us is warmer than it should be.
“Not yet,” I say.
“I know.”
None of them have moved. Panthers. Ravens. Hawks in the trees watching everything. Shadow doesn’t hide what it is. It just makes you look away.
Fuck that.
Twelve visible.
No way that’s all of them.
Twelve don’t stand at a tree line and wait unless waiting is the point.
“Behind us,” Beckett says.
Already turning.
South road. More. Black wolves and bears this time, spread across the width of the road, same slow deliberate pace. No urgency. No aggression.
This isn’t right.
I run the math. North tree line. South road. East and west—
“They’re surrounding us,” Kyron says.
Not attacking. Surrounding.
I look north again. Back south. The pieces land in order and the last one hits hardest.
They let Marcus through.
The whole run. The broken antler. All of it. They let him come because they wanted us looking north while they closed everything else.
These aren’t the ones that matter.
These are the ones they want us to see.
Nova’s hand finds my arm.
I look at her hand, her face.
She’s everything.
I won’t fail her again.
My eyes move back to the treeline.
The panthers still haven’t moved.
They’re waiting.