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Kendra just shook her head, reaching for my wrist. “Come on. We need to talk.”

Silas let out a slow exhale, running a hand through his hair. “This is going to be a long morning, isn’t it?”

Kendra grinned. “Oh, absolutely.”

Her grip on my arm was tight, her fingers digging in like she was afraid to let go. To be honest, I didn’t blame her.

Seeing her standing there, alive, was enough to make my heart soar. The moment was short-lived, though, because the second she pulled back from our embrace, her face furrowed as her eyes darted around like she was looking for someone.

Silas exhaled through his nose, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “I have to check on the camp.” His voice was gruff, but he seemed almost grateful that Kendra had come. “Try not to get into any trouble while I’m gone.”

Then he was out the door, leaving me alone with Kendra.

Her gaze snapped back to me. “Where’s Mariah?”

My stomach dropped.

The question hit me hard, and I suddenly felt cold, even in the warmth of the cabin.

“Lia.” Kendra’s voice was louder now, more urgent. “Where the fuck is Mariah?”

I swallowed, my throat tight, and slowly sank down onto the edge of the bed. “She’s still in the city.”

Kendra’s face blanched. “What?”

I inhaled deeply, trying to steady myself. “She wanted to escape. We both did. We planned it for weeks, watching the patrols, finding the right moment. We thought we had everything figured out.” I let out a humorless laugh, shaking my head. “We were so wrong.”

Kendra sat beside me, gripping my knee. “Tell me.”

I closed my eyes for a second, forcing myself to go back.

To relive it.

The city had never been safe, but that night, it felt more suffocating and threatening than usual.

Mariah and I had been waiting, watching from the shadows of a crumbling apartment building, the exact spot we’d used for weeks to track the wolves’ movements.

We knew their schedules, the guards that patrolled the outer walls, and we knew we had a small window of time to slip through if we wanted to make it out alive.

“Now,” Mariah had whispered, her breath visible in the cold air.

We ran, fast and silent.

Our feet barely made a sound against the cracked pavement as we sprinted toward the breach in the outer barricade—a section of the wall that had partially collapsed from a fire months ago. The wolves had never bothered fixing it properly.

It was our way out. At least, it was supposed to be.

We were so close, the open forest right there, when the sound of boots on stone made my stomach drop.

A fucking patrol! They must have changed routes at the last minute.

“Fuck,” Mariah had hissed, yanking me to the side, shoving me into the cover of an overturned bus. “We have to go now.”

“No,” I whispered back, my fingers gripping her wrist. “There’s too many. We wait.”

Mariah had never been good at waiting. Before I could stop her, she’d bolted straight for the trees.

“Mariah, no!” I whisper-yelled in desperation.