Mira's POV.

I woke to Kael's empty bed and the bond pulling me outside. He stood at the eastern perimeter, staring at the path Lyra had taken. "She's been gone twelve hours," he said without turning.

"I know."

"The bond, it's different. Lighter."

He was right. The weight we'd carried for Lyra had lifted. Not disappeared. Transformed. "She's free now," I said. "Really free."

"And we let her go."

"We did."

Cara appeared, breathless. "We have a problem. The refugees, the ones who stayed, are demanding a council meeting. Now." We found forty refugees gathered in the main hall. Sara stood at the front.

"We stayed because you promised sanctuary," she said. "But you let fifteen of us leave to fight. What kind of sanctuary is that?"

"One that respects choice," I replied.

"Choice? Or abandonment?"

"What do you want from us?"

"Protection. Training. But not permission to leave and die. You should have stopped them." Kael stepped forward. "We can't force people to stay."

"You could have tried harder."

"No. We couldn't. That's not a sanctuary. That's prison." Sara's face twisted. "Then what are we supposed to do? Just wait here until the hunters come for us again?"

"You're supposed to heal," I said. "Transform. Become something other than victims or soldiers."

"That's easy for you to say. You haven't lost everything." Wrong thing to say. I felt the bond flare between Kael and me. All the years of loss crystallized in one moment.

"I lost my pack," I said quietly. "My mate bond was rejected. I watched eighteen people die three days ago defending this place. Don't tell me I haven't lost." Sara faltered. "I didn't mean."

"Yes, you did. And that's fine. You're angry. You're traumatized. But taking it out on us won't fix what's broken."

"Then what will?"

"Time. Work. Facing what happened instead of running from it or charging back into it." The room fell silent. Then a young refugee spoke. "What if we can't face it?"

"Then you do it anyway. That's transformation." The meeting dissolved. Some refugees were left angry. Others stayed, uncertain. Kael touched my arm. "You okay?"

"No. But I said what needed saying."

"They'll understand eventually."

"Maybe. Or maybe they'll leave too." Jenna found us at breakfast. Her eyes were hollow, rimmed red. "I can't sleep," she said. "Every time I close my eyes, I see them taking Ava."

"We're going after her," Kael said.

"When?"

"Tonight."

"I'm coming."

"No," I said immediately.

"She's my friend. I'm coming."

"Jenna."

"You can't stop me. I'll follow if you leave me behind." Kael and I exchanged looks. She meant it. "Fine," I said. "But you follow orders. No heroics."

"Agreed."

We spent the day planning. Cara pulled maps and marked coordinates from the note. "It's a trap," she said. "Obviously."

"I know," Kael replied.

"And you're going anyway."

"Yes."

"How many should go?"

"Three. Me, Mira, Jenna."

"That's suicide."

"Probably. But a large group makes more noise. We need stealth, not force." Cara nodded reluctantly. "When do you leave?"

"Dusk."

I spent the afternoon checking supplies. Silver-resistant armor. Weapons. Medical kit. Thomas found me. The hunter attack had left him with a limp, but he was healing.

"You're going after Ava."

"Yes."

"Bring her back."

"That's the plan."

"And if you can't?"

"Then we don't come back either." He nodded. "That's what I thought. Mira, be careful. Haven's Edge needs you."

"Haven's Edge needs everyone who's here. It'll survive without me."

"Will it, though? You and Kael, you're the center."

"No. We're just two people. The community is the center." I wasn't sure I believed that. But I needed him to.

At dusk, we gathered at the gate. Cara, Thomas, and a dozen others came to see us off. "Three days," Cara said. "If you're not back in three days."

"Assume we're dead," Kael finished. "And keep Haven's Edge running."

"I don't want to do this without you."

"You won't have to. We're coming back." He said it with such certainty I almost believed him. We left as the sun set.

The coordinates led northeast. Six hours on foot through dense forest. We moved in silence. Jenna kept pace, though her breathing was ragged. Around midnight, Kael stopped.

"Smell that?"

I did. Smoke. Silver. Human sweat. "We're close," I whispered. We crept forward. Through the trees, I saw firelight. A camp. Twenty hunters. Armed. Organized.\ And in the center, a cage.

Ava is inside, unconscious or dead. I couldn't tell from this distance. "How do we do this?" Jenna breathed.

"We don't," Kael said. "Not yet. We watch. Learn their patterns. Then we strike at dawn when they're tired."

"That's hours away."

"I know. But charging in now gets us all killed." We settled into position. Watching. The hunters rotated guards every two hours. Six are on duty at any time. The rest are sleeping.

Ava moved once. Alive. Barely. Jenna's hand found mine in the dark. Squeezed. "She's alive," I whispered.

"For now."

Dawn approached. The camp stirred. Hunters waking, starting fires, checking weapons. Our window was closing. "Now," Kael said. "Before they're fully awake. We moved as one. Silent. Fast.

I took the first guard from behind. Quick. Quiet. He went down without a sound. Kael took the second. Jenna froze at the third. Couldn't do it. He turned. Saw her. Opened his mouth to shout. I threw my knife. It caught him in the throat.

He fell. But the damage was done. The camp erupted. "Get Ava!" Kael shouted. Jenna ran for the cage. I covered her. Bullets tore through the trees. Silver flashing in the dawn light.

One caught my shoulder. Burned like fire. I kept moving. Kael fought three hunters at once. Brutal. Efficient. Jenna reached the cage. Fumbled with the lock.

"Hurry!" I screamed.

She got it open. Pulled Ava out. Ava couldn't walk. Deadweight. "Go!" Kael roared. "I'll hold them!"

"Not without you!"

"Go now, or we all die!" Jenna and I ran, half-carrying Ava. Behind us, the sounds of fighting. Gunshots. Screams. Then silence. Terrible silence. I stopped. Turned back.

"Don't," Jenna gasped. "He said go."

"I can't leave him."

"You have to."

Ava coughed. Spoke for the first time. "He's alive. I can feel it. But barely." The bond. She could feel the bond. Which meant Kael was still alive. For now. "We have to go back," I said. "We can't carry Ava and fight."

She was right. I knew she was right. But leaving Kael behind felt like dying. "There's more," Ava whispered. "They're coming. Following us. Twenty of them."

"How do you know?"

"I heard them planning. They wanted you to rescue me. It's the trap." Of course it was. We couldn't go back for Kael. Couldn't run fast enough with Ava. Couldn't fight twenty hunters. We were trapped.

Then, howls from the west. Not hunters. Wolves. A dozen of them burst through the trees. Led by someone I didn't recognize. A young Alpha, barely twenty. "We heard there was trouble," she said. "We're from the packs Lyra's been helping. She sent word you might need backup."

"Lyra?"

"She's organizing the eastern territories. Sent us here. Where's Kael?" I pointed. "In the camp. Captured or dead. I don't know."

"Then we'll go get him. You three, run. We'll handle this."

"I can't."

"You're wounded and carrying a prisoner. You'll slow us down. Run. We'll bring Kael back or die trying." They charged toward the camp. Jenna pulled me forward. "Come on. We have to trust them."

We ran. Behind us, the sounds of battle resumed. Louder now. More chaotic. We made it half a mile before I collapsed. The silver bullet had poisoned my blood. I could feel it spreading.

"Leave me," I gasped. "Not a chance," Jenna said. She and Ava, now conscious enough to help, half-carried me. We stumbled through the forest as the sun rose.

Three hours later, we reached Haven's Edge. Cara saw us coming. Ran.

"Where's Kael?"

"Captured. Maybe dead. Lyra sent wolves to get him."

"Lyra?"

"Long story. I need." I collapsed. The world went dark. I woke in the medical building. Cara is standing over me.

"How long?"

"Six hours. We got the bullet out. You'll live."

"Kael?"

She hesitated. "No word yet." My chest tightened. The bond was there, but faint. So faint. "He's alive," I said. "I'd know if he wasn't."

"Mira."

"He's alive."

I had to believe that. Had to. A commotion outside. Shouting. Cara ran. Came back moments later. "They're back. The wolves Lyra sent."

"And Kael?"

"Come see."

I forced myself up. Stumbled outside. Found Kael on a stretcher. Unconscious. Bleeding from a dozen wounds.

But alive.

Breathing.

The wolves who'd saved him were battered, exhausted. "We got him out," their Alpha said. "But it cost us. Three dead. Five wounded."

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Don't thank us. Thank Lyra. She knew you'd do something stupid. Sent us to make sure you survived it." They left to rest. I sat beside Kael's bed. Took his hand. The bond pulsed. Weak but present.

"You're an idiot," I told him. "Telling us to run while you played hero." No response. "But you're alive. So I forgive you." His fingers twitched in mine. Cara appeared. "Mira. There's something you need to see."

"Not now."

"Yes, now."

She led me outside. Pointed east. On the horizon, smoke is rising from a dozen points. "More packs burning," she said. "The hunters aren't stopping. They're accelerating."

"How many?"

"We don't know. But Mira, at this rate, there won't be any packs left within a month." I stared at the smoke. We'd saved Ava. Saved Kael. Won this battle. But we were losing the war. And I had no idea how to stop it.