We shuffled along in silence. I sat on Verando's back as Marisol led us through the back streets towards the city. While we had been occupying the group for more than a few hours figuring out their general names and identities, it was decided that the cover of darkness was necessary and best with their dark coat colors. 

Risking being seen was not an option, as a capture would mean they would suffer the same fate as our two leaders. From the back of the wolf, it almost brings me back to our days of riding around Dezna. I run my fingers through his fur, and while my body seems to think it should be shivering, the warmth he emits is quite lovely, and I find I'm warm enough despite the breeze. 

How is this going to work? How are we going to do this?

As if he senses my discomfort, I spy him glancing at me over his shoulder and reaching up to ruffle his ears with my fingers. "I'm just lost in thought. You feel different without the shoulder injury. More even." 

I try to distract myself from the pregnant creature guiding us. Pregnant with his child, but she didn't want to be? Or did she? Was it as it was with Penelope where she thought it was a fair trade, our lives were complicated but- I exhale. 

He didn't love Penelope, but he did love Marisol, maybe even more than he loved me in some sense. 

"Do you remember France?" He asks idly. I snort.

"I try to pretend you didn't set up all those tours to keep me busy. But yes, I do. Fondly, sometimes. It was a beautiful city. If it hadn't been for those tours, I never would have found you in time." I muse, thinking back to the cobblestone streets and the lamp tours, the dresses, and the clothes, so different from today's time of jumpsuits and loose-fitting garments. 

I take in the city's back streets and can't help but compare it to that of my home, the mountain range, and the trees surrounded by wildlife and nature. When I inhale, I'm only greeted with the distant smell of exhaust and perhaps a nearby restaurant. There's nothing beautiful about these back streets, ducking under low-hanging clotheslines and skirting through shabby alleyways.

 "It's quite different. This place doesn't quite have the charm..."

Marisol chuckles lightly, slowing down to walk beside us. "I think it's beautiful here. People look like they might not starve to death." She looks towards the skies, stars, and moonlight peering down on us through the draped clothes and fire escapes. She bumps Verando with her shoulder, smiling as best she can. "We would have loved stairs like these when we were kids. Would have made getting on the roof easier."

He makes an appreciative sound, wagging his tail one time. "You just stood on me, if you remember correctly. I think both places over their charm, to be free was quite nice though. Even if it was shortlived." 

"You're free now." I remind him.

He sighs. "Not in the same manner, but yes, this is freer than I was, that is for certain. Wouldn't it be nice to be out of the city?" 

"The city does have its conveniences." I sigh, remembering all the walking and our lack of horses though we did have vehicles in today's time. 

Marisol seems to nod in agreement. 

"It's been nice. Had a good business till you bastards showed up."

Verando rolls his eyes, "I don't want to be 'convenienced', I want to be alive." His muzzle tilts up to see Marisol's point of view, tilting his head slightly to the side as we take in the strange shadows and shapes the clothes create in the shining light. The more I look, I feel that there is a sense of simplicity about it that could be endearing. 

If one could get past the smell of exhaust, that is. I just didn't have the upbringing they did, I appreciated fine art and a more classical attempt. Though I was beginning to appreciate 

"What do you think about wearing out the new recruits before we get to the compound?"

 Marisol lays her ears back. 

"Really?"

I return to reality and grip his scruff, pulling back on it. "No, no, no! Randy, please, I'm so sore." I complain, my thighs burn in protest from just sitting on this beast. Marisol raises her eyebrows and giggles, making me narrow my eyes at her. "Not in that way, unfortunately." I practically spit at her. He sure did have a 'type'. "Can't we just walk?"

"No can do, darling. We're taking too long as it is," Glancing over his shoulder, he barks to the six wolves following us. "Come on, we need to pick up the pace. Try to keep up, feel your wolf, follow the leader."

Marisol smirks, ruffling her coat in anticipation. "Flying blind, are we?"

"I'll be gentle." His words only make me groan, I'm not going to be able to walk if I take much more of this abuse. There were days when I would sit on his back for hours at a time, now I felt every movement, and it was torture.

 Was I really in such poor shape? The gray creature speeds off into the night, and I tug firmly on his scruff. 

"Listen here, asshole. You're much faster than most of these wolves, so maybe take it easy?"

He scoffs at me, jumping smoothly up and over a dumpster. "If they value their lives, they will find a way to keep up. Welcome to pack life, baby." 

How was it that healing his shoulder brought his mental age down twenty years? But the more I think about it, the more I calculate that it was more extensive than just his shoulder. This doesn't feel like a death march, more like an attempt at fun in an awful situation. 

I hear the clumsy lycans slipping and stumbling behind us, and I can't help but chuckle at the image of the skinny creatures trying to stay upright in the twists and turns of the back alleys. Distant clanging makes me think we're being chased, but just as my heart begins to race, Marisol leaps off the banister of one of the stairwells and lands in front of us. 

"Cheater." He accuses.

"Cheater? You've gone soft." 

The path becomes narrow, forcing us into a single file line. His ears swivel as we run, scanning his surroundings, and I know he has the same worry I did. Where were the cats that hunted us so fiercely in this area? The lighting begins to dim as less and less roof space allows for the moonlight to trickle through the fire escapes. 

"We need to get out of the allies and onto the streets." He barks to Marisol. 

"You wanted to keep a low profile." She reminds him.

"I know what I said but this doesn't feel right. We need to get out into the open. The fresh lycans all look alike; no one will recognize them." 

She slams on the brakes and makes us all slide and skitter into the back of her. I agree that remaining in this dank alley didn't make much sense. We weren't too far away now; if it meant getting to the compound quicker, making a break for it seemed like a good option. 

"Why did you stop?"

"You. You're gray, light gray; they'll notice you very easily against a bunch of black wolves." 

The group watches us with uncertainty, murmuring amongst themselves. Carefully, I slide off him and almost stumble on the slick ground. Reaching down, I touch the silty brick and grimace. 

"Well..." I touch his coat and make a face as it muddies the gray fur. "This ground is vile; roll around?" I suggest. 

His ears flatten as Marisol immediately lowers herself to scrub her brown coat across the brick. It's not perfect, but she's hard to recognize. I wouldn't have noticed the cream paws and the deep hues of her coat if I hadn't known to look for them. Climbing the fire escape, I snag a hooded jacket off one of the lines and jump down to meet the muck-covered alpha male. 

It's hard not to laugh at his expression alone, but I know I'm on thin ice as it is. I pull the hood over my head, running my hand over his muzzle affectionately. 

"Gorgeous," I tell him gently. His expression suggests I'm in for it later.

A distant clang causes us to cringe, and quickly I climb onto his back. "Stay close." He commands the group as he manages to wriggle past Marisol and lead us out onto the street: ear perks, the cars wiz by at immense speed. 

I tighten my grip on his coat; it's much more terrifying when can you see it. "Hang on." Diving onto the sidewalk, I keep my face close to his coat as he bounds against the traffic flow down the sidewalk. Overhead, lights flicker and shudder as we pass, and bodies brush against my legs as people scream and jump out of the train of lycan flesh. 

I dare not look over my shoulder because I might not see the next move if I take my eyes off this path. We weave in and out of the bodies and street vendors. Behind us, people shout and curse as clumsy younger lycans blow through what we had easily skipped past. 

My body feels tight, a threat; in a swift motion, I pop the top of a fire hydrant and throw a frozen barrier over our path as the cat lands face-first against the ice shield. "Shit!" I manage, almost falling off of him with the startle. Quickly, I kick my leg over his back and spin to face backward.

 "Don't let me fall," I command him, taking hold of the water from the hydrant while I can still see it and redirecting the blast down the air vent the cats seem to be appearing from. The dazed creature falls off the ice shelf and seems to be considering chasing us as it fades into the distance. 

"Look out!" Marisol calls to me, and I duck down as we dive under a low-hanging sign. The sign scuffs my back, and I try not to alert him to it as I spin back around and think of anything but the sting. The street lights are blinding neon, pulling my eyes away from scanning the vast crowds. I feel overwhelmed; when did they get so many people?

 How long had it been since I'd been emersed in a city? 

"Right!" she shouts.

We skid down the sidewalk and freeze at the intimidating sight of the roaring street, brimming with cars. 

"Are you mad?" He demands, grunting as a dark wolf runs into him. With a harsh growl, the creature lowers in submission. Cats surround us in the caverns of the streets, digging their way out of the depths, triggered by our presence. 

"It's there or here." Marisol snaps.

I take a deep breath and extend my hands, "There's a pipe under us. Just get ready; once it goes, I won't be able to hold it."

"You're going to fuck up the city's water?" She asks me sharply.

"Would you rather die?!" 

She hesitates, glaring at the ground. 

I roll my eyes, "We are running out of time to argue this."

"The clouds. Pull a cloud down. Everyone will slam on their brakes with the fog." Verando says quickly.

"We won't be able to see." I remind him.

"Neither can they. I know where I'm going; we'll follow our nose." 

Obediently, I give the command, and the cloud drops from the sky like a dead weight. It hits all around us in a dense fog, and the screech of tires drops my small pack to the ground, whimpering at the intensity of the attempts to stop. All around us, the cars crash and crumble, sparks fly, and pieces of debris sail through the air. I press my legs into his sides. 

"We need to move." I attempt over the calamity.  

Moving to the back of the group, he shoves them with his chest to get them moving before pushing back to the front to continue our run; the bodies of civilians look alien in the fog as if they're merely ghosts instead of humans. 

Sounds of surprise and pain echo around us in a haunting symphony as, unfortunately, the cats mistake our identities. How many would die so that we could live? An arrow soars through the air and deflects off his shoulder, making him slip and fall. 

I throw up my arms to shield my face as my body hits the ground. My hoodie shreds and tatters against the asphalt, and I widen my eyes at the oncoming headlights. I hear him before I see him, and the car slams into the side of the dirty gray lycan. 

The sound of metal crunching makes me cover my eyes, and I know I must be dead. 

"Nic." "Nicolas." My ears ring, and I see the familiar light eyes when I glance up. Inhaling sharply, I practically climb him to hug him tightly, though my hands meet wetness, and I quickly retract to take him in. While he wasn't unscathed, he seemed functional. I expected him to be splattered, but it mostly appears that he's cut up. Were lycans really that strong? To withstand a collision with a vehicle? "Are you alright?"

"How are you alive?"

He glances over himself, frowning as best he can in his lycan form. "I don't know."

"Um. Excuse me. Can we get back to running for our damn lives?!" Marisol snarls at us, baring her teeth. I watch his cut-up body and limp over towards her. 

"He can't carry me, not like that. Where did the arrow come from?" I demand only to meet the hooded figure as I spin around. 

"That'd be me. That was quite a display." The figure speaks; I note them to be female. "Where are you going, stranger?"

A cat roars as it leaps down from the overhead roof, and I pull the fog into ice chips, clenching my fist to drive them into the cat with a fury I hadn't possessed in a long time. "You just shot my husband; any more stupid questions?" I seeth, unclenching my hand to allow the cat to drop to the ground. 

Following the leadership of the Alpha, the untrained group surrounds the adversary on instinct alone. 

"You better say something useful, or you'll become mincemeat."

The woman puts up her hands, "I want to help. There's a way out of the city-"

"No thanks. Just stop shooting at us and get out of my way." I shove past her and motion to the group. Marisol lowers her body, and I climb onto her. "If I see you again, it's not me you must worry about." 

Verando catches her from behind, yanking her foot out from under her to shove her to the ground with his paws. She keeps her hands outstretched and silent, with no response or commentary. 

I press Marisol gently with my calves, and she starts to run once more, at a slower pace since I weigh her down. "Not much farther." She assured me. I looked over my shoulder to note Verando had fallen to the back. We break out of the fog and skirt down the street towards the parking garage that is the entrance to the compound. 

The scraping of claws behind us is ominous, and I know we're being followed. My body complains, reluctant to do more with my still-recovering magic supply. I curse as we slide under the height bar and enter the dimly lit, aging garage. Sirens and lights flash as they fly past the entrance.  "Oh good, the police."

"We need to get inside before they find us."

"No shit." She spits back at me—the parking space drops, lowering itself to allow us passage. We dive in as Marcello runs up the ramp, firing off the shotgun in his hands at the massive cat close to our heels. The door begins to close as we file in, blast after blast, seemingly doing minimal damage to the enraged feline. 

"If you die, I'll never forgive you!" She threatens my warlord, and I have to say, I agree with her. All I can do is try to catch my breath, chest heaving as I slide off of her.  As the gray wolf slips through the last sliver of an opening, the passage slams, and the beast snarls and hisses above. I go to him, hugging him once more. 

We pant collectively. The slender black beings collapse into a heap of exhausted lycan bodies, and Verando shifts back into his human form; I cling to his dirty body. 

"Welcome back, Nicolas and Asshole." Artifice chimes. I snort rather unceremoniously and cover my mouth. Oops. I never changed it back.