THE ROGUE'S BLOODLINE

The Tunnel Hunt

The air inside the abandoned drainage tunnel was thick with the suffocating stench of rotting moss and rust. Mud squelched beneath Zamani’s boots as she slipped forward through the dripping gloom, her movements as silent as a breath. Behind her, Douglas moved like a shadow shaped from iron, his massive tactical frame tightly coiled, his amber eyes slicing through the absolute dark.

Because Zamani left no scent trail, Douglas had to rely entirely on his eyes to track her form ahead of him. The forced reliance on visual proximity kept him close—dangerously close.

"The exit is three hundred meters ahead," Zamani whispered, her voice barely a vibration against the curved concrete walls. "It spills out right past your perimeter fence, directly into the rusted iron yards of the Blackwood Neutral Zone."

"Paul has the outer perimeter sealed, but if Vance crosses that threshold, he falls under neutral jurisdiction," Douglas muttered back, his deep voice scraping low in his chest. "We take them before they reach the light."

A sharp, metallic clatter echoed from the tunnel bend up ahead.

Zamani halted instantly. Douglas closed the remaining distance before he could stop his momentum, his chest pressing flush against her back.

SNAP.

A violent, blinding arc of static electricity cracked between them, illuminated in the dark tunnel like a flash of lightning. Zamani winced as the electric surge flared across her skin, her heart hammering against her ribs from the sudden, intoxicating rush of the bond. Douglas let out a low growl, his large hand instantly coming down to cup her shoulder—half to steady her, half driven by the primal urge of his wolf to claim his scentless mate in the dark.

"Control your wolf, Douglas," she breathed, her voice tight as she pulled away from his hand, though the tingling charge still danced along her nerves.

"It isn't the wolf you should be worried about," he growled softly, though his eyes instantly locked onto the tunnel bend as a flickering flashlight beam washed over the wet concrete.

"Move the crates faster!" a sharp, aristocratic voice snapped around the corner. It was Elder Vance. "The Alpha’s Beta is purging the servers. If those tracking codes update, the Enforcers will be on us before the underworld transport arrives."

Zamani and Douglas stepped around the brick pillar, bursting into the wider junction chamber.

Elder Vance stood near a rusted iron ladder leading up to the surface, his expensive robes stained with sewer mud. Surrounding him were four heavily armed rebel defectors, frantically hauling the final lead-lined Ashwood crates.

"Vance," Douglas’s voice boomed through the tunnel, dropping with the crushing weight of pure, unadulterated Alpha authority. The sheer acoustic force made the concrete dust rattle down from the ceiling.

Vance spun around, his face draining of all color as his eyes locked onto the towering silhouette of his Alpha. "Douglas! How... how did you find this line?" His eyes immediately flicked to Zamani standing beside him. "The stray. I knew we should have slaughtered her at the border."

"The game is over, Vance," Zamani said, her stolen silver-edged blade slipping into her hand with a smooth, lethal hiss. "Your smoke screen just cleared."

"Kill them!" Vance shrieked, backing toward the ladder. "Secure the shipment!"

The four rebel wolves drew their tactical blades, their eyes flaring a desperate, feral gold as they lunged into the dark water toward the Alpha and the ghost.