Eighteen hours sounds like a long time until you're in them.
Then it becomes a countdown you feel in your teeth.
We worked through the morning and into the afternoon with the particular focused energy of people who understand that preparation is the only thing standing between them and a situation they can't afford to lose. Damien spread maps. Nkechi made lists. The four senior pack members Damien's network had identified as trustworthy — a woman named Sade who'd been a border patrol coordinator under Kaden, two brothers called Emeka and Chidi who ran the eastern training yard, and an older wolf named Greyson who had apparently been quietly passing information to the network for two years without anyone noticing — all contributed what they knew about Ashfen's pack, its structure, its Alp
