Chapter 10
CADE
The forest feels wrong. I know every inch of this territory—the slope of the ridges, the density of the trees, the way the wind moves through the valley at different times of day.
But this? This feels like something else has taken root beneath it. Something watching.
Something waiting. I crouch low near the clearing where the attack happened, my fingers brushing lightly over the disturbed earth. The scent is still here, faint but unmistakable.
Hybrid. Not just one. Many.
Nolan moves quietly behind me, his boots barely making a sound against the forest floor. For once, he isn’t joking.
“You’re seeing it too, right?” he says.
I nod once.
“They didn’t scatter,” I reply. “Not completely.”
The ground tells the story if you know how to read it. Tracks overlap—some older, some fresh. Movement patterns. Circling. Testing.
“They regrouped,” Nolan says.
“Yes.”
That alone is enough to put every instinct on edge. Predators don’t regroup like this unless there’s a purpose behind it. Unless something is directing them. I straighten slowly, scanning the tree line. The forest is quiet. Too quiet.
“Spread pattern,” I say. “They pushed outward, then came back through here.”
Nolan exhales.
“Like a perimeter check.”
“Or a rehearsal.”
That lands heavy between us. Because rehearsals mean something bigger is coming. I turn and start deeper into the trees. Nolan falls into step beside me.
“You really think they were after her specifically?” he asks after a moment.
I don’t hesitate.
“Yes.”
He studies me.
“That’s not just the mate bond talking?”
I stop walking. Turn to face him.
“No.”
The word is sharp enough to cut. Nolan raises his hands slightly.
“Hey, I’m not doubting you. Just making sure we’re not missing something because your wolf is… emotionally invested.”
My wolf bristles immediately. Emotionally invested. That’s one way to put it.
“She showed me something this morning,” I say.
Nolan’s expression shifts.
“What kind of something?”
“A message,” I reply. “From whoever’s behind this.”
His eyes narrow.
“And?”
“They have a file on her.”
Silence. Nolan’s posture straightens.
“That’s… not good.”
“No.”
I turn and keep moving.
“They know her name. Her movements. They were tracking her before the attack.”
“Which means,” Nolan says slowly, “they didn’t just stumble onto her in the woods.”
“They hunted her.”
The word hangs in the air between us.
“Okay,” he sighs. “Yeah. That’s officially worse.”
We move in silence for a while after that. The forest thickens as we climb higher into the mountains, the trees growing closer together, the underbrush denser. The scent grows stronger.
My wolf presses forward, alert and restless. Close. We’re getting close. I lift a hand. Nolan stops instantly.
“You hear that?” he asks quietly.
I nod. Not sound. Absence. No birds. No small animals moving through the brush. The forest is holding its breath.
I shift partially without thinking—bones tightening, senses sharpening, the world snapping into clearer focus. Nolan follows suit. We move forward again, slower now. Careful.
Measured. Then we find it.
The ground dips slightly into a shallow ravine, hidden beneath thick growth and shadow.
At first glance, it looks like nothing. Just another break in the terrain. But the scent— It’s overwhelming here.
Hybrid. Blood. Decay. And something else. Something metallic. Human. I step closer to the edge and look down. And my stomach tightens. Tracks. Dozens of them. Maybe more.
“They’ve been using this place for a while,” Nolan says quietly.
I nod. The earth is worn down, paths carved into the dirt from repeated movement. This isn’t a temporary stop. This is a base. Or at least a staging ground. I slide down the incline carefully, landing in a crouch at the bottom.
Nolan follows. Up close, the details are worse. Scratches in the dirt. Broken branches.
Dark stains soaked deep into the ground.
“They’ve been feeding here,” Nolan says.
I don’t respond. Because something else catches my attention. I move toward a cluster of rocks near the far side of the ravine. There’s a scent here that doesn’t belong. Cleaner. Sharper.
Manufactured. I crouch and brush aside leaves and dirt. Metal glints beneath. Nolan steps closer.
“What is that?”
I pull it free. A small device. Black. Sleek. Not something that belongs in the middle of a forest. Nolan whistles.
“Yeah… that’s definitely not natural.”
I turn it over in my hand. There’s a faint blinking light on one side. Active. Tracking.
Monitoring.
“They’re being watched,” Nolan says.
“Yes.”
A cold realization settles in.
“Or controlled.”
Nolan looks around the ravine again, his expression darkening.
“So this isn’t just a pack of monsters running wild.”
“No.”
I close my hand around the device.
“This is organized.”
Before Nolan can respond, a sharp crack echoes through the trees above us. Both of us freeze. Then— A howl. Not wolf. Not fully. Something twisted. Wrong. My wolf surges forward instantly.
“They’re close,” Nolan says.
Too close. I drop the device into my pocket.
“Move,” I snap.
We scramble up the ravine just as another sound splits the air— A scream. One of ours.
Nolan doesn’t wait for orders this time. We run. The forest blurs around us as we push forward at full speed, instincts taking over. The scent hits first. Blood. Fresh. Then we break into a small clearing. And chaos.
One of our scouts is down, clutching his side, blood soaking through his shirt. Two hybrids circle him, their movements sharp and calculated.
Not feeding. Fighting. Testing. My vision narrows. Rage slams into me. I don’t think.
I move.
I hit the first hybrid before it can react, slamming into it with enough force to send it crashing into a tree. Bones crack. It doesn’t stay down. Of course it doesn’t.
Nolan takes the second one, shifting fully mid-stride, his wolf form colliding with the creature in a blur of fur and teeth. I don’t wait. I shift further—claws extending, muscles surging—and tear into the first hybrid as it lunges back toward me.
It’s faster than before. Stronger. Adapted. But not enough. I grab it, twist, and drive it into the ground. It snarls, snapping at my arm. I end it before it can land the hit. The second hybrid breaks away from Nolan and bolts for the trees.
“Don’t—” I start.
Too late. It’s gone. Nolan shifts back, breathing hard.
“Great,” he throws his hands up. “Now it knows where we are.”
“It already did,” I reply.
I turn immediately to the injured scout.
“Easy,” I say, dropping to one knee beside him.
His breathing is shallow, uneven.
“Cade…” he manages. “They came out of nowhere…”
“I know.”
His eyes flick toward the forest.
“There were more,” he says. “Watching.”
Of course there were. I glance up at Nolan.
“We need to move. Now.”
Nolan nods.
He helps the scout to his feet while I scan the tree line again. Every instinct is screaming.
We’re being observed. Measured. The attack wasn’t random. It was deliberate. A test. I tighten my jaw.
“They’re probing our defenses,” I say.
Nolan adjusts his grip on the scout.
“Yeah,” he says grimly. “And we just gave them a pretty clear look at how we respond.”
We start moving back toward Silver Ridge, faster now, more cautious. Every sound in the forest feels amplified. Every shadow feels alive. We reach the edge of town, and the tension in my chest hasn’t eased. If anything, it’s worse. Because now I know. This isn’t the beginning.
It’s escalation.
Garrett is waiting when we arrive. His eyes go immediately to the injured scout.
“What happened?”
“Contact,” I say. “Multiple hybrids. Organized movement.”
Garrett’s expression hardens.
“And?”
“They’re not wandering,” I continue. “They’re operating from a base deeper in the mountains.”
Nolan steps forward.
“And they’ve got tech,” he adds. “We found a monitoring device near the site.”
That gets Garrett’s full attention.
“Show me.”
I pull it from my pocket and hand it over. He studies it carefully, turning it over in his hands.
“This changes things,” he says quietly.
“It gets better,” Nolan says.
Garrett looks up.
“They’re learning,” I say. “Adapting. The one that got away—he ran, not because he was scared, but because he had what he needed.”
Garrett’s jaw tightens.
“Information.”
“Yes.”
Silence settles over the group. I glance toward the direction of Clara’s cabin without meaning to. Toward Eliza. Garrett notices.
“And the human?” he asks.
I don’t hesitate.
“They were already targeting her before this.”
Garrett nods slowly.
“Then that’s the center of this,” he says. “Whether we like it or not.”
My wolf stirs again. Protect. I meet his gaze.
“We don’t wait for them to come back,” I say. “We prepare.”
Garrett nods.
“Agreed.”
The air shifts. The pack feels it. This isn’t a warning anymore. It’s the start of something bigger. Something coming straight for us. And this time—
We’ll be ready.