Then again, although tough and strong, Dane was not a particularly large wolf. I supposed it could have also been a Northstone sent by Brucella to try to catch us.

Now I wondered whether we might have been followed every night up into these trees. Although I had been awake each night before this one, truthfully I had not been paying as much attention as I should have to the trees surrounding us. Victoria was too much of a distraction to my senses, both when she was awake and when she was asleep. My focus was usually on her in some way or another.

We could have very well been stalked each night by one wolf or another. I should not have expected anything less from Brucella.

Pushing the unnerving thought to the back of my mind, I slid out of the hole before reaching for Victoria and helping her out too. “Let’s return to camp.”

Victoria

Shortly after Bastien and I returned to camp, the Bonereavers left to recruit their final wolves, while we were left to fetch ours.

We set off to the two remaining packs, and by early afternoon we had gathered everyone. After this, we headed straight to Rock Hall—about three hours away from our final wolf pack.

When we emerged from the woods and arrived at the base of a jagged mountain, Bastien declared our arrival. Sergius and Brucella led our crowd to a tunnel entrance in the foothills. Bastien hung back with me until the others had passed through before we followed. Echoes of footsteps thundered all around us as we moved inside. The tunnel curved gently as we traveled deeper into the mountain until finally an exit came into view. We emerged into an immense cavern that resembled an auditorium. It was packed to the brim with stone chairs and benches, and there were balconies above us where even more seats appeared to be. Flaming torches sent shadows dancing against the walls.

“The Bonereavers have arrived already,” Bastien muttered.

“How do you—?” I followed his gaze upward where a group of five men were gathered in one of the balconies. “Where are the rest?”

Bastien shrugged. “Probably retreated to their chambers to rest while they wait for the remainder of us to arrive.”

I didn’t have to wait long to find out what Bastien meant by chambers. While most of the Northstones and the wolves we’d traveled with hung back to admire the auditorium, Bastien and I crossed the vast hall and entered another tunnel at the opposite end of it. Doors were cut into the rocky walls on either side of us, so far all of them closed—probably already occupied by the Bonereavers. But as we traveled deeper, we began to find empty rooms. Bastien stopped outside a door to our right which was ajar. Its hinges groaned as Bastien pushed it open. It was empty, in every sense of the word. It was just a bare chamber with not a single scrap of furniture. Nothing.

As we stepped inside, our feet sent dust billowing up from the floor.

“Wow,” I murmured. “I wonder how long it’s been since somebody came in here.”

Bastien gazed around, his mouth grim. “It could be centuries for all we know,” he muttered.

Whatever the case, it would have to do. I was used to sleeping on a branch, after all. I couldn’t imagine that this would be any more uncomfortable than that.

“We hopefully won’t stay here for long, anyway,” Bastien went on. “I’m hoping that by our meeting tonight or tomorrow, we will have decided on a course of action and will have left this place on our way to the hunters’ lair.”

I swallowed at the thought. I hated to imagine the huge loss of life The Woodlands would undergo if the wolves really did launch a full-on attack. What if the mutants slaughtered them all? All of The Woodlands’ strongest tribes wiped out… and Bastien.

Having still not come across a pack who could inform us of another gate, I also wondered what role I would play in all of this. There was no machinery here for me to use, and I was just a weak human. A burden.

Apparently sensing where my thoughts were roaming, Bastien reached for my hand and squeezed it. Then he offered me a faint smile that didn’t touch his eyes. Clearing his throat, he said, “We ought to focus on one day at a time.”

Bastien

The remaining packs arrived at the agreed upon time, before nightfall. That made us approximately fifty tribes in total. As sprawling as Rock Hall’s accommodation was, there simply weren’t enough chambers to house them all. This only put more pressure on us to come up with a solution quickly so we could leave this place—which wasn’t a bad thing. I feared that brawls would break out in the meantime with all of these rival packs living within such close proximity of one another. Fighting amongst ourselves was the last thing we needed at a time like this.

After the final wolves had entered the mountain, we had not a moment to lose. Sergius had been waiting outside, counting the packs as they arrived to make sure we weren’t missing any, and now I heard him racing along the corridors outside, yelling for everyone who wished to have a say about the destiny of our country to gather in the meeting hall.

Victoria and I had been sitting in the empty room, where I had shifted for her sake. I thought that she would be more comfortable lying against me while I was a wolf. And now I decided to stay as a wolf for the meeting. If anybody dared make a snap at Victoria, I would be better equipped to defend her. I was so very tempted to leave her behind in the chamber, but that also was not safe. I did not trust anyone here. Not even Sergius. I did not wish to let her out of my sight for a moment.

And so I knelt for Victoria to climb onto my back. Then I left the chamber with her, even as I quietly enjoyed the feel of her fingers sliding through the fur at the back of my neck.