We reached the mountains by midday. The path grew steep. Rocky. My human legs screamed with every step. Kade was struggling too. We stopped every few minutes. Gasping. Weak.
“How much further?” I asked Sera.
“Another hour. Maybe two.” She was not even breathing hard. Her wolf gave her the strength we no longer had. “We can rest again if you need.”
“No. The First Dark knows where we are. Knows what we are doing. If we stop, it will attack again.” I forced myself to keep walking. “We get to the old wolf. We get answers. Then we figure out how to fight.”
The mountain air was thin. Cold. I had forgotten how much human bodies needed. Air. Warmth. Rest. Food. We were so fragile now. So breakable.
“There,” Sera pointed ahead. “Her cave.”
It was not much. Just a dark opening in the rock face
