Hyyyype! We're in the werewolf under #500 club at the moment. Keep it up guys <3

The news came the next morning, via Rhodric. The police had finally paid a visit to the hunters, much to the annoyance of everyone involved. They had taken the time to arrange a warrant and do it all properly. Miller had personally made half a dozen arrests, according to my father.

A good portion of illegal weaponry had been confiscated as well. I just hoped Malcolm wasn't smart enough to turn this around. If he tipped them off to our whereabouts, I could only imagine the consequences. Three hundred people who had grown up off the radar, knives in every pocket, and a collective criminal record beyond belief.

But for the time being, Malcolm had never been so vulnerable. We were setting off as soon as physically possible.

"Say goodbye to the baby, Fion," I advised her. "That is, if you still want to come."

"I give birth to one child, and you want to side-line me?"

"That isn't what I—"

She cut me off mid-sentence. "Nia will stay with Maggie. I trust her to protect my daughter. Ollie will be here if anything goes wrong. One of the other mums has even agreed to feed her while I'm gone. What more do you want?"

"It's not Nia I'm worried about, really," I muttered under my breath, half hoping she wouldn't hear me.

Fion ignored my question. "I'm healed, Skye! Unless you want a re-enactment of what happened to Rhys, I suggest you sit down, shut up and wait."

I did as she said with any further protests. Fion leant down to say one last goodbye to little Nia, who had been crying continuously for the last hour. Perhaps she knew her mother was leaving. I offered the baby a smile and tried not to be offended when she didn't return it. Nia was still a bit too young for smiling.

Ollie was leaning in the doorway, waiting quietly for me. Everyone else was scattered about the camp preparing to leave. All except one notable person, whom I realised I had hardly seen since she got here.

"Where's Kara?"

"About that..." Ollie grimaced. "Your twin has been acting odd. I sent Tally to tail her — which is just protocol when there's a flockie about the place. She walks around the tents all hours of the day, asking strange questions."

I raised an eyebrow. "Such as?"

His reluctance doubled. "Everything, really. Look, I know she's family, Skye. And I mean this in the nicest possible way, but I reckon she's up to something."

"Kara's from New Dawn. They're friendly with us. What reason would she have to scheme?" Fion asked.

"I don't have a clue. There's just something off about the whole thing. She's been making phone calls too, when she doesn't think anybody's listening."

That caught my attention fully. "To whom?"

"People called Tyler and Emma, several times a day. Tal couldn't hear much more than that," Ollie said.

"That's her mate and best friend," I replied flippantly. But when I looked at it a different way ... that's her Beta and Luna.

Ollie didn't sound convinced. "The packs are finally moving about. Reports indicate large forces leaving all of the territories this morning, presumably to meet at some chosen battleground. I'll tell you this, I hardly believed they were at war until now. This is the first activity we've had in months. It's just odd timing. Kara could have been spying for Keith undercover in New Dawn."

"It doesn't fit, but I'll talk to her. She won't be able to do any more harm now. We're leaving in an hour. Call Tally off."

Ollie nodded, and he went to do just that.

It was troubling, I had to admit. But with Keith about to fight a battle, he couldn't hurt us. There were puzzle pieces to this mystery scattered across the last two weeks, but I couldn't quite fit them together. Someone had tried to kill me, flockies had been holding hunters hostage, and now my own twin seemed to be spying on me. Even with a backdrop of the passive-aggressive pack war, I failed to see how all these things could connect.

In my defence, no one else did either.

***

We all met at the western gate within an hour of the police raid. I tried not to stare too much at Kara, and I resisted the temptation to have Fion rifle through her mind. Even for us, that was going a bit far. Rhodric brought Jeff from the cabin, making sure to keep a firm hold of his arm once they were in the vicinity of camp. There were too many werewolves around for comfort. It would be wise to leave before they could set him off.

Rhys was the last to arrive, with Cassidy at his heels and a familiar duffel bag swung over one shoulder. Leo carried another one — stuffed with clothes because there was no way we would get through the next day without shifting. But it was my brother's luggage which would be essential to our success. I eyed the bag and asked, "Is it done?"

He nodded. "Nearly burst my eardrums in the process, but yes."

"All the fighters?" I checked.

"And most of the camp as well. Didn't you hear it from the castle?"

"Well, yes. Just making absolutely sure."

The original plan had been to run in wolf (or in Jeff's case, terrifying monster) form. But as our resident genius — Fion, obviously — had pointed out, Cassidy couldn't shift. It must have been terrible to be human. Eternally confined to one, relatively useless body.

As that had obviously ruined that idea, I had decided to split the group. Old Jeff, Fion and Kara would be dropped off by one of the fighters. The rest of us would pile into the Mercedes we had stolen from Jace six months ago. It was important we arrived separately because they would probably be watching when we did.

"I still don't see why all five of you need to be on Team Infiltration," Fion complained.

"Easy," Rhys said. "Dad's the trigger-happy loose end, Skye's the evil mastermind, Leo's the sensible one, I have a gift for sarcasm, and Cass is the bait. You're just jealous because you're on Team Exfiltration, which doesn't sound nearly so exciting."

She scowled at him. "I'm jealous because when Malcolm kills you all on the spot, I'm going to end up digging five graves while you party in hell."

"I think you overestimate hell," I laughed.

"If it's the manual labour that bothers you, just let rip with a lighter. I've always wanted to be cremated anyway," Rhodric added.

Fion offered us a sad smile. She pulled me and my brother in for a hug, then my mate, despite my wolf's half-hearted protests. Jeff wandered over to give his grandson what looked like an affectionate punch. Rhys reacted to that as any sane person would — with a grimace and an uncertain smile. But when the old man turned to Rhodric, it wasn't to punch him.

"Jeff can bring the dark, if you want him to," he said solemnly. "He doesn't have much mind left to lose."

"Don't you dare," Rhodric snapped. "It's the one thing you cannot do. You would hurt them."

That was accompanied by a vague look in our direction. I tried to pretend I wasn't hanging on every word they said.

Jeff gave us all a crooked smile. "Only if they is fragile. Jeff would try not to. He knows the dark well — he can make it do what he likes."

A muscle writhed in Rhodric's jaw. "If it has to be done, I'll be the one who does it. Understand?"

"Yesh. Fine. Jeff understands," he muttered. "He doesn't want to hurt the kiddies."

I waited until Jeff had wandered off again. And then I went to stand beside Rhodric as casually as possible. The others were all chatting — I wasn't sure any of them had actually noticed the little exchange.

"What was he talking about?" I demanded.

Rhodric eyed me, eyebrows slightly raised. "Nonsense. As usual."

"I've heard him talk a lot of nonsense. I've never heard you talk back," I said with a note of accusation in my voice. "If he freaks out in there and tries to kill us... I mean, shit. We can't deal with him and the hunters."

Rhodric shook his head. "He won't. Don't worry about him. With luck, we won't even need him."

"There's a lot that can go wrong with this plan," I muttered, and it was true. I was astonished that Rhodric had even agreed to it, given that it was the polar opposite of caution.

"Yes, there is," he admitted. "But there's a reason Malcolm has been running from me, all these years. He knows he only has the upper hand when there's several miles between us. The more mistakes we make, the more confident he'll feel."

"And that's good?" I asked hesitantly.

"That's good," Rhodric agreed. "I'd rather kill him the old-fashioned way. It would be better and safer for everyone involved. But there are other ways."

I frowned at him. "So ... if we can't escape the restraints, you could do it with your mind?"

He had warned Fion that Malcolm could defend himself from attacks like that — he had told her that she shouldn't try it under any circumstances. So this ... it didn't make sense to me.

"Something like that," he said.

And I knew that tone. It meant that any more questions on my part would go unanswered. I didn't really care exactly what he was planning because I trusted him. Of course I did. He wouldn't take me and Rhys into the lion's den unless he knew a way to get us back out again.

He stepped away a few moments later to say his goodbyes to Fion. They hugged and exchanged a few quiet words.

Kara stood back and watched. Not with awkwardness or envy, as I might have expected. She just looked ... conflicted. That didn't reassure me. She was my twin, so I knew exactly how she should have reacted. If Rhodric had saved her instead of me, and I saw someone interacting with the family I had missed out on, I would be bitter and resentful at the very least.

So as everyone said their goodbyes, I went to stand beside her. "We're going back to where it all started. Sure you're ready?"

It felt odd talking to her without Rhys or Leo as a buffer. I had never consciously tried to make friends with someone before — it always seemed to happen by accident. But Kara ... well, I didn't have the first clue what to say to her. We were in an impossible situation here.

"I'm not going inside," she said firmly. "You promised that."

"Yes, I did." I frowned, wondering what the hunters could possibly have done to instil such fear in a person who seemed fearless. "You're the distraction."

The others had finally finished hugging, so we piled into the car with much shoving and laughter. Rhodric was once again driving. As he pulled out slowly, we waved at the three left behind, never guessing that they weren't the ones we should have been saying goodbye to.

As the castle shrunk in the rearview mirror, I started sharpening my knife. The steady scrape of steel on stone was comforting. It had formed the backdrop for hundreds of nights around the campfire. We had chosen the three smallest people to sit in the back — Leo, Cassidy and me. Leo's hand rested on my thigh, my wolf basking in his proximity and warmth.

Rhys and Cassidy kept up a constant stream of teasing and not-so-subtle flirting. They were in that first stage of a relationship when you could hardly take your eyes off each other. Leo and I had long since calmed down to the dynamics of an old married couple. I didn't mind much, seeing as I had never been a romantic in the first place.

We parked a good mile from the hunter's base. I was seeing the complex for the first time — a big, square building built of ghastly grey stone. It must have been a warehouse once, but it was now in such a state of disrepair that the sunlight could find its way in one side and out of the other. There were two obvious entrances, and we selected the largest one.

There were no guards posted outside, but I made sure to ignore the camera above the doorway. The way we walked, slow and cautious, was by careful design. I opened the door with exaggerated care, not making the slightest noise, and then I beckoned the others to join me. Leo was behind me. Rhys came next, holding a knife to Cassidy's throat. She was playing the hostage. My brother had blatantly refused to let anyone else near his mate with a sharp object, so he was the obvious choice for the job. Rhodric protected our backs.

All of us had our hoods up and our weapons visible. This had to look like a serious attempt to infiltrate the building, or Malcolm would never fall for the trick.

The response was almost immediate. As we rounded the first corner, we were met by eight men and eight rifles. They were standing shoulder to shoulder and horrifically close to us. I did my best to look dismayed and let out a torrent of foul words.

"Back up or the girl dies," Rhys warned them. No doubt they would recognise their friend's daughter. And Cassidy was a very good actress — sobbing for all she was worth.

"Here's another idea," one of the hunters suggested. "Let her go or we'll put you all down like dogs. One bullet each. How does that sound?"

Rhys pressed the knife closer to his mate's throat, no doubt fighting his instincts every inch of the way. "You're bluffing."

"You want to find out?"

As if to illustrate that point, he sighted down his gun. The muzzle was pointed straight at Rhodric, who gave him a dead-eyed, haunting stare but kept his mind games well in check. We knew they weren't going to shoot us. Apparently, Malcolm had been very vocal over the years about wanting all of us alive. Rhodric included.

Footsteps behind us. None of us needed to turn around to know that there were guns pointed at our backs.

Rhys spat on the ground, his eyes wide and panicked. He was a better actor than me — I'd admit that much. After a few curses, he threw the knife down and shoved Cassidy away. The hunters closed ranks around her, even as we slowly raised our hands. They were eerily calm and managed it all with a military-like discipline.

"I want to talk to Malcolm," Rhodric said.

"And you'll get to," the hunter promised. "He'll be hearing all about your little sortie. Toss the knives down. Nice and slow."

We did what we were told. Half of the hunters advanced towards us while the other half waited, ready to shoot if we made a single threatening move.

A pair of rough hands seized my shoulder. I was propelled down the corridor at gunpoint, heading towards the holding cell we had mapped out so carefully. Behind me, my family was receiving similar treatment. One of the hunters got tired of Leo's surly resistance. I didn't even have time to cry out before a gun slammed into his temple. My mate sank to the floor, mercifully unconscious. I didn't have to fake my concern after that.

And that was how we ended up restrained at Malcolm's mercy. We were chained — the others to iron rings set into the wall. I was lucky to end up in a chair that reeked of urine. The floor was splattered with a suspiciously reddish-brown liquid, and the walls were decorated with gouge marks. Holy Goddess. How desperate would a wolf have to be to claw at solid concrete? What the hell had they used this room for? I had a sneaking suspicion Kara might know.

Only when the hunters filed dutifully out and shut the door behind them did I allow myself to grin. It was almost too easy.