Freeing Starr

Leondro’s POV

I took up a pebble and threw it out into the clearing in front of us. Immediately, the ground blew apart as the trap mine was triggered.

“Aren’t they underestimating us too much?” Griffin asked from beside me, his lips curled in dismay. “We can hear the fucking bombs ticking under the ground.”

I took up another pebble and threw it again. Another area blew up.

I shook my head. “They’re doing this to keep us at a distance. This works for us though. We’ll draw their attention to us while Leon finds Starr. Then we’ll fight.”

“Look.” Griffin pointed up at the top of the wall with a grimace. “They’re setting up snipers.”

“Bring in our snipers and tell the wolves to shield the humans. We have a better chance of deflecting those bullets.”

I looked back at the crowd behind me. I didn’t expect there to be so many volunteers. I understood the ones who felt grateful to Starr for saving their lives but this one. I looked at the woman that stood at the very front in her wolf form.

From what I’ve heard, she’s been suffering in prison for a while since her capture. The second she caught wind of what was going on though, she volunteered to come and help us fight. She reasoned that she owed Starr a lot. What was her name? Niah? Something like that.

With this many people gathered, I was confident that no matter what trap Glacial City had prepared for us, we’d still be able to overcome it.

Starr’s POV

Finally.

The numbness finally wore off. My wounds were finally beginning to heal. I braced myself against the wall and got up.

It was time for me to leave.

I stepped over the body of the second guard who had come checking up on me and left the cell. My ears listened closely to the footfalls of the people walking on the ground above my head.

Approximately 8 people, seeing as how each footfall sounded different. At a time like this, I thanked Zion for that sensitivity training, even if it was a bit over the top.

I walked along, gazing into the other cell rooms to find them empty as expected. I was the only one down here.

I stole the pants off the guard and rolled them up on my waist until they fit me snuggly. So now I was drowning in some random man’s clothes. It couldn’t be helped. Though, it would be hard for me to blend in looking the way I was.

At the end of the hallway was a ladder leading above ground. I climbed it and grabbed onto the latch, slowly twisting it and opening it enough for me to peek through. I quickly closed it back as a few humans rounded the corner and approached me.

I held my breath and listened in as they stepped over me and continued down the hall. Once their footsteps receded, I opened up the latch again and shoved it open. I winced at the loud groan and quickly crawled out of the hole. Then I closed the door and followed behind the people that had just passed.

I came upon a flight of stairs and could already hear a lot of commotion upstairs. What was I supposed to do now? How could I escape this place safely?

I looked around for anything that could help me but found nothing. There was a door on my right. It said storeroom at the top. I opened it and entered, softly closing the door behind me.

My eyes started glowing as I looked around the dark room curiously. There were a lot of boxes stacked in the corners. A jug of water was resting on one of the boxes and I took it up to open it and take a large gulp. I was so thirsty. I placed the jug back and wiped my mouth.

The ground suddenly shook again.

Another explosion.

What were they doing out there?

I waited in that room patiently until I heard more people approaching the area. This time, by the sound of her voice, one of them was a woman. She was with two other males. I took a deep breath and prepared myself against the door.

The second she walked by, I was going to jump out and kill them.

I listened intently with my hand on the doorknob. I opened the door and shot outside as soon as they were within reach. A startled cry came from the female as I ignored her completely and drove my lengthened claws into the chest of both men. When I pulled my hand back, the males fell to the floor with a thud, dead before they even knew what was happening.

The female guard stumbled back and took out her gun, about to shout for help before I quickly flashed in front of her and covered her mouth. My other hand held the gun and ripped it out of her hand. Then I quickly snapped her neck and caught her body as it fell.

I dragged her over to the storeroom and threw her body inside then did the same for both the other men. Then I stepped into the storeroom and took off my clothes, damping them with water to wipe the blood off my face, hands, and any other visible areas. I stripped the female guard and squeezed into her clothes. It was a tight fit but it was doable.

Now I blended in perfectly.

I left the storeroom and walked up the stairs and into the bustling hall. Humans were walking up and down the place. Now and then, you’d see a few guards mixing in between them.

What was this place?

I walked around aimlessly for a bit and stumbled on an office. The human sitting behind the desk looked up at me curiously. “Can I help you?”

I took a deep breath and schooled my face as I tried playing it cool. “I’m looking for the deputy mayor. Do you know where he is?”

The human furrowed their brows in confusion. “Why are you asking me? You’re security. The sounds of the bombs going off at the city walls should be obvious enough.”

Oh.

I laughed nervously. “I was just wondering because I came from there and he said he’d be stopping here for a bit.”

The human eyed me weirdly. “Then ask the other guards. I don’t know.”

“Right.” I nodded and turned to leave.

“Weirdo.” The human muttered quietly to themselves as I left.

So my father was at the city walls? Was the Kingdom attacking the City? I had to hurriedly go and help them.

I spotted a guard walking by themselves and ran up to them.

“Hey, are you going to the city wall?” I asked.

The guard glanced at me suspiciously and said. “Yeah, why?”

I sighed in relief. “Perfect. Let’s go together.”

“What about your partners?”

My partners? Was that why the guards were walking in groups?

I pretended to be angry and said. “The bastards left me on my own. Said I was too cowardly.”

He eyed me for a second then sighed and nodded. “Just don’t keep me back.”

“I promise I won’t!” I almost screamed in excitement. As much as all of this was nerve-racking for me, I couldn’t help the excitement that slowly bristled at being close to finally ending it all.

I followed behind the guard as he met up with two of his partners before the four of us began heading toward the exit.

Just as we walked through the back exit of the building, my entire being froze as a familiar scent invaded my nose.

This was...

My heart shook as I looked back inside with frantic eyes, looking for that familiar face that I’d missed so much.

It was Leon. I was sure of it.

His scent was faint, meaning he had passed through this area just a while ago. Was he looking for me? Did he come for me?

What should I do? I couldn’t miss this opportunity to confront my father.

“Hey, you! You coming?” One of the guards shouted after me.

I glanced back at them anxiously before looking back at the building. It was such a large building with so many people inside that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to find Leon so quickly. Our mate bond was still MIA, meaning the wolfsbane haven’t completely drained from my system yet.

What should I do?

“Lady, we’re gonna leave you behind if you don’t hurry the fuck up!” The other guard shouted.

“Females, I swear. Is she getting cold feet?”

I ripped off my jacket sleeve and imbued my scent onto it. Then I placed it through the gap in the door so that Leon would smell it when he came back in this direction. He’d be able to tell that I purposely left it there for him to find and know that I was fine and left the building on my own.

“Woman! No wonder your team left you! Let’s go!” They blew the horn on the truck and shouted impatiently.

“I’m coming!” I shouted as I turned my back and ran after them. I quickly hopped onto the back of the truck to join the other one.

“About time. Let’s go, Brody!”

The truck engine revved as Brody drove the truck out of the parking lot and onto the busy road.

I sat down and sighed, wondering if I had made a mistake. Should I have stayed and waited for Leon to find me? If that happened though, and he saw the state I was in there was no way he’d let me confront my father. I had to do this. Me. This was my fight.

It took us about thirty minutes before we made it to the city wall. The bombings grew louder. Did they not care that they were destroying the ground outside their city? That was dangerous. Though if it was my father who was giving the orders, that was understandable. He didn’t care about anyone but himself.

Once the truck parked, I hopped off and dusted off my pants. “I have something to say to the deputy mayor. Do any of you know where he is?” I asked.

Brody shrugged and hauled a large duffel bag over his shoulder. “He’s probably up on the wall observing the wolves. We’ve been at a stalemate for a while now. The wolves can’t approach because of the bombs and we can’t fight them in close combat so we’re forced to use long-ranged weapons.”

The other guard snorted. “If you ask me, this whole thing is pointless. There’s no way for us to go up against beasts like that. The only reason why we’re not dying right now is because the wolves are trying to avoid harming the innocent civilians that are in the city.”

Brody shot the guard a glare. “Don’t say that! With our guns, we’re not at much of a disadvantage.”

“They can literally hear and dodge our fucking bullets.” The guard argued.

“Not in an enclosed area they can’t! It’s just like the mall incident. If we restrict their movements, we can corner them and unload our guns on them. I think that’s what the deputy is waiting for. He’s trying to lure them into the open field to encircle them.”

“They’re not moving from the forest line though.”

Brody sighed. “That’s the problem.”

I followed them into an elevator built into the side of the wall and anxiously shifted from foot to foot as I listened in on their conversation.

My father wanted to encircle the army? I needed to hurry up and stop him.

The elevator took us to the very top of the city wall and I stepped out and hid behind them as we blended into the many guards walking around. The wall was much thicker than I’d imagined. As I looked over at the large expansion of forest on my left, I sucked in a sharp breath at the many specs in the distance.

Wolves and humans alike stood as they faced the city walls. Lined up on the walls were men holding snipers and aiming at the crowd in the distance.

I felt him before I saw him.

My father.

He was among a group of snipers, pointing in directions for them to shoot. I saw the moment his body stiffened as he probably sensed me as well.

A rage like no other came pouring out of me as I realized just how heartless he was. He was really planning on helping the humans kill his kind.

My feet moved before my brain could form a thought. I ran at full speed towards him and jumped, shifting midair and startling many of the guards around me.

The moment my father turned around to look in my direction, it was already too late. I knocked right into him and clamped my jaws down on his shoulder.

I growled as we rolled and slammed into the banister of the wall. The metal hooks creaked as the force pulled them right out. My father and I tumbled over the high wall and fell.