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“Lia,” he said, his voice deep and resonant. Then something in his gaze darkened. “I know that name.”

I stiffened, my heartbeat picking up.

Rowan turned toward me. “Kendra talked about you, about you and Mariah.”

At the mention of Mariah, my guts squirmed.

His eyes narrowed. “Where is she?”

I clenched my jaw, my throat suddenly dry. “She’s still in the city.”

A beat of silence.

“Explain,” he demanded.

I inhaled, steadying myself, and told him everything: how I’d learned about the drug and how Mariah and I had planned our escape and been so close. Finally I explained how she had been taken, and I had been forced to run, leaving her behind.

When I finished, Rowan was silent.

Kendra placed a hand on his arm, grounding him. “We’re getting her back,” she said firmly.

“We need to move fast,” Rowan muttered, more to himself than anyone else. “The longer she’s there, the worse it’ll be.”

Footsteps crunched against the dirt behind us. I didn’t have to turn to know it was Silas.

“We’ve all lost something to the wolves in the city,” he said, taking over the conversation. “But now, we don’t have time to focus on what’s been taken in the past. We must come together to stop this now or the humans are done.”

The words settled over us, oppressive in their dire prediction.

Rowan exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “That’s a hell of a statement.”

Silas ignored the edge in his tone. “It’s the truth.” His golden eyes settled on me for a moment, silently reassuring me, before sweeping over all of us. “If we don’t stop this drug before it goes into full use, the human race won’t survive. And now that the city wolves know the location of my camp, things are about to get even more dangerous. We have to make a move as soon as possible.”

Kendra muttered under her breath, “As if things weren’t bad enough already.”

I frowned, turning toward Silas. “Do you think they’ll come back?”

Silas nodded once, grim. “They will. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next week, but theywillreturn. And next time, it won’t be a scouting party or a test attack; it’ll be a full-scale assault.”

Rowan’s expression darkened. “Then we need to move everyone before that happens.”

Kendra crossed her arms. “Agreed. We don’t have the luxury of sitting around and waiting.”

I looked between them, my heart pounding. “If we’re going to do this, we need a real plan. Not just ‘run into the city and hope for the best.’”

Silas gave me a small nod of approval. “Then we start strategizing now.”

Rowan’s blue eyes flickered toward Silas. “And what about your camp? You prepared to leave it undefended while we go charging into the city?”

Silas’s jaw tightened. “No, but if we stay here, we’re dead anyway.” He blew out a hard breath, glancing back toward the tree line, where the camp’s perimeter stretched out behind them. “The council knows where we are now, or they will soon enough. Staying put would be a death sentence.”

Rowan nodded grimly. “Then we move them.”

Silas gave a sharp nod. “Exactly. We’ll start evacuating tomorrow. Jax will lead the relocation. I trust him to reinforce the new site and keep the pack organized while we’re inside the city.”

“Where will they go?” Kendra asked, her voice tight.

“There’s an old ranger station farther north,” Silas said. “Remote, hidden, and defensible. We’ve scouted it before but didn’t need it—until now. The pack can regroup there, stay out of sight until this is over.”