The attack came before dawn.
That was how I knew it wasn't random.
I woke to the sharp crack of bone against skull, the sound slicing through sleep like a blade. The camp erupted instantly no screams, no confusion. Just motion.
Too coordinated.
Too clean.
I rolled to my feet, blade already in my hand, heart steady in my chest. Smoke curled low through the trees, stinging my eyes as shadows burst past the perimeter.
Pack wolves.
Not rogues.
Not mercenaries.
Trained.
"Positions!" someone shouted.
Too late.
Fire tore through the eastern tents, flames devouring canvas and supplies alike. I caught the scent then familiar, disciplined, unmistakable.
His territory.
Not his order.
But close enough to be unforgivable.
A wolf lunged from the smoke. I ducked, drove my blade upward, and felt resistance warm, final. He fell without a sound.
I didn't hesitate.
Survival had burned hesitation out of me months ago.
"Flank left!" the rogue leader barked. "They're herding us!"
Of course they were.
This wasn't a raid. It was a purge.
Someone wanted us scattered. Vulnerable. Easy to pick off once the smoke cleared.
I fought my way through the chaos, senses stretched thin every movement precise, every breath measured. Blood slicked my hands, my arms, my clothes. Not all of it was mine.
A scream cut through the noise.
Too young.
I spun just in time to see one of ours go down, a pack wolf's jaws closing around his throat. I moved without thinking threw my blade, watched it strike true.
The wolf collapsed.
The boy didn't get up.
Something inside me cracked.
Not cleanly.
Ugly.
"Fall back!" I shouted. "South ridge now!"
They listened.
They always did.
We retreated in pieces, melting into the forest the way we'd been taught. By the time the last flames died, the camp was gone reduced to ash and bodies and proof that no place stayed safe for long.
We regrouped miles away as the sun rose, pale and indifferent.
Three dead.
Five wounded.
Everything else lost.
The rogue leader approached me, face hard, eyes assessing not blaming. Never that.
"This wasn't chance," he said.
"I know."
"They were searching for someone."
My jaw tightened.
"For me," I finished.
Silence stretched between us, heavy with truth.
I stared at the blood drying on my hands and felt something colder than fear settle into my bones.
If I stayed, more would die.
If I ran, the hunt would never stop.
And if he was truly closing in if his shadow was already reaching this far
Then hiding was no longer an option.
I lifted my gaze.
"No more camps," I said quietly. "We move constantly."
The leader studied me. Then nodded once. "And the Alpha?"
My answer came without hesitation.
"If he wants me," I said, voice steady as steel,
"he'll have to come himself."