Finding an underground bunker isn’t easy
736 Words
ZANDER
I haven’t felt this alive since she died, and left us behind to raise our kids without her.
The cold has clung to my bones ever since the Moon Goddess took my mate from me. The mother of my children. Most days, I don’t feel anything. But this—this mission—it burns in my chest. The fury. The hope. The need.
We’re close. I can feel it.
Zavier found it—an old hatch, buried beneath dead leaves and silence. The scent of blood seeps up through the rusted seams. It’s not just fear. It’s suffering.
“She’s in there,” I mutter. “Amber.”
And maybe more.
⸻
ZAYDEN
Zander’s always been the fire. I’m the stone.
At least, I used to be.
But when I hear the echo of a child crying through the vent shaft Zavier pried open, something shifts. Something ancient and sharp. This isn’t just a rescue—it’s retribution.
Zavier taps his earpiece. “Team Alpha, go silent. Five minutes until breach.”
Our warriors are already surrounding the perimeter. The best fighters from our pack, handpicked. Loyal. Lethal. They’re our claws in the dark.
We’re going in first. No hesitation. No mercy.
⸻
ZAVIER
There’s a map. A crude schematic of the underground network Zayden uncovered from a corrupted laptop back at the Nightshade border.
Many levels.
Some—holding cells, medical rooms, torture chambers.
Another one.
Children.
I grip my blade tighter. “We split. Zander and I will clear the lower cells. Zayden, take Beta Marcus and his warriors. Get the kids out. Quiet. Fast.”
Zayden gives one sharp nod. No argument. No time.
We move.
⸻
ZAYDEN
The upper level is colder. Like death has settled into the concrete and never left.
We find the children in a locked dorm-style room—ten of them. Ages all over the place. A toddler clutching a ratty stuffed bunny. A boy around eleven with hollow eyes and a protective arm around the younger ones.
Two older women tend to them, their faces exhausted but kind. Guardians. Prisoners too, by the looks of it.
The door creaks open.
Their eyes widen—terror blooming—but I crouch low, holding out my hands.
“We’re not here to hurt you. We’re from the Midnight Howlers. You’re safe now.”
One of the women bursts into tears.
Warriors fan out, wrapping blankets around the children, lifting the smallest ones. I take the boy’s hand myself. He hesitates—then clings.
“This is real?” he whispers.
“Yes,” I say. “You’re going home.”
⸻
ZANDER
Down below, we find Amber.
Her eyes are wild until she sees us. Then the fight drains from her, and she collapses into my arms.
“Zander,” she breathes. “You found me.”
My throat tightens. “Always.”
She clutches my shirt. “There’s someone else… a girl. She saved us.”
We follow her gaze to the next cage—and I stop cold.
There’s a human inside.
Broken. Pregnant. Curled protectively around her swollen belly.
My wolf growls low. Not in hunger. Not in violence. In something else.
Recognition? No. Not yet.
But it stirs. Like an ember catching on wind.
⸻
ZAVIER
We tear open her cage. She doesn’t stir. Blood crusts her temple, and her body is limp, but her heartbeat is strong. Too strong to ignore.
“Take her,” I tell one of our medics. “She’s coming with us.”
Amber’s face is pale, but she grabs my wrist. “They’re afraid of her. She’s carrying a werewolf baby.”
Zander and I lock eyes.
We don’t understand it. But we know this: whoever this girl is, she matters.
⸻
ZAYDEN
We meet at the surface. Children safe. Women carried. Survivors wrapped in blankets and trembling under the moonlight.
We’ve destroyed the locks. Killed the guards. Cleared the hallways.
But we didn’t just rescue our sister.
We unearthed a secret. Something sacred.
A human girl who shouldn’t matter to us… but does.
And my wolf is restless.
Not for vengeance.
For her.
⸻
ZANDER
We’ll get answers.
But tonight, we ride.
And as I carry her in my arms, her scent tangled with blood and hope, I swear one thing:
The Moon Goddess may have taken once.
But maybe… just maybe…
She’s giving us something back.
- Writer
