Lily Carter POV
The arrow whizzed past my ear so close I felt the feathers brush my hair.
"Down!" Brock shouted, tackling into the snow just as another arrow thudded into the tree where I’d been stood.
My heart hamred against my ribs. This wasn’t the peaceful hunting trip Alpha Marcus had promised when he assigned Brock to protect while the search teams looked for Emma and Timmy.
"Stay low," Brock growled, his silver-blue eyes scanning the trees around us. "Three rogues, maybe four."
I pressed myself deeper into the snow, trying to make myself as small as possible. The wooden token with the bone face felt heavy in my pocket - a warning that dangerous wolves wanted for sothing I didn’t understand.
"Can you see the others?" I whispered, looking for the rest of our hunting party.
Brock’s jaw tightened. "Too far ahead. We’re on our own."
Another arrow flew over our heads. This ti I heard the gun moving through the trees to our left. My improved hearing picked up footsteps in the snow - heavy boots, at least two pairs.
"They’re trying to circle us," I said.
Brock looked surprised. "How do you know?"
"I can hear them. Two from the left, one from the right."
His eyes shot up, but he didn’t have ti to ask questions. The wind was picking up, and the first snowflakes of what looked like a major storm started to fall.
"We need to move," he said. "Now."
We crawled through the snow until we hit a cluster of rocks that gave us cover. The shots had stopped, but I could still hear the rogues moving closer.
"There’s a cave system up the mountain," Brock said, pointing to a hill about half a mile away. "If we can reach it..."
"That’s a big if," I mumbled, watching the snow fall harder.
"You got a better idea?"
I thought fast. The cave was our best shot, but getting there ant crossing open ground where the rogues could easily pick us off. Unless...
"The stream," I said. "It runs along the base of that hill. If we follow it, we’ll have cover from the trees and rocks."
Brock frowned. "That stream is half-frozen. One bad step and we’ll fall through."
"Better than being target practice."
He studied my face for a mont, and I saw sothing shift in his expression. Maybe he was finally understanding I wasn’t completely helpless.
"Lead the way," he said.
We belly-crawled to the stream’s edge. The water moved fast enough that it hadn’t frozen fully, but ice covered the shallow parts near the banks. I tested each step carefully, feeling for solid ground beneath the snow and slush.
Behind us, I heard the rogues breaking through the underbrush. They’d found our hidden spot.
"Faster," Brock pushed.
I picked up the pace, jumping from rock to rock where the stream was bigger. My boots slipped on the icy stones, but I managed to keep my balance. Years of picking herbs in all kinds of weather had taught how to move on treacherous ground.
The snow was falling so thick now I could barely see ten feet ahead. That was good - it ant the rogues couldn’t see us either. But it also ant we might miss the cave opening.
"There!" Brock pointed to a dark opening in the rock face, barely visible through the whirling snow.
We scrambled up the bank and ran for the cave. Just as we reached it, I heard an angry shout behind us. The rogues had spotted us.
"Get inside!" Brock pushed ahead of him.
The cave was bigger than it looked from outside, stretching back into darkness. But it was also freezing cold, and the wind was howling through the opening like a wild animal.
Brock paced near the mouth of the cave, watching for signs of chase. "I don’t think they’ll follow us in this storm," he said. "But we might be stuck here for hours."
I was already gathering dry wood and fuel from deeper in the cave. Soone had used this place before - probably hunters taking cover just like us.
"What are you doing?" Brock asked.
"Making a fire before we freeze to death."
He watched skeptically as I arranged the wood and used flint from my herb-gathering kit to spark the fire. Within minutes, flas were dancing against the cave walls.
"Where did you learn to do that?" he asked, sitting down near the fire with obvious relief.
"My grandma taught . She said an oga who couldn’t take care of herself was no good to anyone."
Brock was quiet for a mont. "I never knew you were so... practical."
"There’s a lot you don’t know about ."
As if to prove my point, I noticed he was favoring his left foot. When he’d hit earlier, he must have twisted sothing.
"Let see your ankle," I said.
"It’s fine."
"You’re walking. Let see."
He reluctantly pulled off his boot. His ankle was already growing, and I could see him wince when he moved it.
I dug through my plant pouch and pulled out so dried willow bark and comfrey root. "This will help with the pain and swelling."
"You just carry dicine around?"
"I work in the nursery, rember? Pups are always getting hurt."
I crushed the herbs between two rocks and mixed them with a little water from my bottle to make a paste. When I started putting it to his ankle, Brock jerked back.
"That stings!"
"Don’t be such a baby. It’s helping."
To my surprise, he actually smiled. "Yes, ma’am."
As I wrapped his ankle with strips torn from my scarf, sothing strange happened. The Triple Moon mark on my wrist began to pulse with warmth. Not the gentle heat I’d felt around Aiden or the excited tingle from being near Caleb. This was different - steady and strong, like a beating.
Brock must have noticed sothing too, because he was looking at with an odd expression.
"Lily," he said quietly, "there’s sothing I need to tell you about the hunting trip today."
The way he said it made my stomach drop. "What do you an?"
"My father didn’t really send us hunting. He sent to test you."
"Test how?"
Brock looked uncomfortable. "He wanted to see if you could handle yourself in trouble. If you were really worthy of the Triple Moon mark."
I felt like he’d slapped . "So this whole thing was fake? Even the rogues?"
"No, the rogues are real. But..." He took a deep breath. "I was supposed to make sure you failed. To prove you weren’t strong enough to be Luna."
The fire crackled between us as his words sank in. I’d been set up. The Alpha wanted to fail, and he’d sent his own son to make sure it happened.
"Why are you telling this?" I asked.
"Because you didn’t fail. You saved both our lives today, and I..." He looked down at his wrapped ankle. "I was wrong about you."
The mark on my wrist pulsed brighter, and I saw Brock’s eyes widen as he noticed the glow through my sleeve.
"Lily, what is that?"
Before I could answer, a bone-chilling howl sounded from sowhere deep in the cave behind us. Not the yelp of a regular wolf - this sounded like sothing else entirely.
We both froze, looking into the darkness beyond our fire’s light. The howl ca again, closer this ti.
"Please tell that’s just the wind," I whispered.
Brock was already reaching for his knife. "That’s no wind."
Glowing red eyes erged in the darkness at the back of the cave. Then another pair. And another.
We weren’t alone.
"The bone-faced wolves," I breathed, rembering the covered figures from the forest. "They followed us."
The eyes moved closer, and I could make out shapes in the shadows - wolves wearing skull masks, just like the ones who had taken Emma and Timmy.
One of them stepped into our firelight, and when it spoke, its voice was like gravel scraping stone.
"The Bearer will co with us. The choice cannot wait until midnight."
Brock moved protectively in front of despite his hurt ankle. "She’s not going anywhere."
The bone-faced wolf tilted its head. "The Alpha’s son protects her? Interesting. Perhaps the test was more successful than planned."
My blood turned to ice. They knew about the test. They’d been watching us the whole ti.
"What do you want with ?" I asked.
"You will choose, Bearer. But not when you expected. Not where you expected. The moon rises early tonight, and the pups’ ti grows short."
More bone-faced dogs erged from the darkness. We were completely trapped.
The leader’s red eyes fixed on . "Co freely, and the wounded Alpha son lives. Resist, and he joins the pups in our world."
Brock’s hand found mine, squeezing tight. His voice was fierce despite the odds against us.
"Whatever happens, don’t go with them, Lily. The pack needs you."
The bone-faced wolf laughed, a sound like breaking glass. "The pack? The pack sent her here to fail. But we... we know her true worth."
The creature took another step forward, and I saw sothing that made my heart stop. Hanging from its neck was a small beaded band - Emma’s bracelet, still stained with blood.
"Choose now, Bearer. Co with us to save the pups, or watch this Alpha son die by our claws."
The fire flashed between us and the masked wolves, casting dancing shadows on the cave walls. Brock squeezed my hand again, and I felt the mark on my wrist burn like fire.
Ti was up. The choice I’d been fearing had arrived, but not the way anyone expected.
And sohow, I knew that whatever I decided in the next few seconds would change everything - not just for and Brock, but for the entire Silver Peak Pack.
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