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Ashleigh kept her focus on the first creature. He had one stinger left; if she could remove this, the threat the creature posed was significantly reduced.

Caleb grabbed the attention of the other two. He drew them away from Ashleigh, allowing her to focus on her task. He weaved between them, preventing either from attempting to sting him. As he moved, he swung his sword and caught one of them along the shoulder. A horrifying screech came from the creature.

Ashleigh and the first monster measured each other up, she waited until it tried to lunge forward at her, and then she jumped. She aimed higher than his back and knew he would buck her off if she tried to catch him the same way as before.

As she leaped over the creature, she observed its movements. Then, as it turned to try and face her, she took the opportunity to throw one of her knives at the base of the last stinger.

The beast screeched and fell as the last stinger was severed at the root.

After landing, Ashleigh quickly recovered. But the beast was still on the ground. So she turned and ran at it; raising her hand high, she summoned a dagger and drove it hard and deep into the beast’s chest.

“Return to the Goddess,” she whispered as the beast let out a gurgle and a groan before it shriveled into a small husk.

She stood up, catching her breath. She looked down at it, hoping the soul trapped inside was again free.

The sound of something slamming hard against a tree not far away reminded her that Caleb was still in danger. Taking another deep breath, she summoned two new blades and rushed into the trees toward the sound of fighting.

***

Two hours later, Ashleigh and Caleb stood near a large fire. They wore scraps of fabric tied around their head to cover their nose and mouths as they checked over their wounds. Making sure nothing looked as though it had been hit by one of the stingers without them realizing it.

They were hesitant to build the pyre at first. Primarily there was a concern about more of these creatures wandering in the forest. Beyond that, they weren’t sure if burning the bodies could spread the infection through the air.

Ultimately, they decided to burn the bodies to honor the wolves trapped inside. Releasing their energy back to the Goddess, or the ley lines as they had learned, was the case.

When Peter finally returned their call, he told them the virus would not be able to be transmitted through the air, only through direct injection. Still, they chose to keep the cover over their faces. Better safe than sorry.

He had also told them that Myka was recovering well. And re-emphasized the need for extreme caution with the hybrid creatures.

The team in Summer had almost completed the adjustments needed to produce the cure as an inoculation for the general population. But there still was no answer for Ashleigh and Axel, and until

Caleb got the inoculation, he was in just as much danger as the other two.

They stayed with the pyre until they were sure that the creatures were nothing but ash and bone, and then they returned to their mission.

The sun had already set by the time they neared the Moonguard territory.

Ashleigh didn’t like moving in heavier armor. It made her feel stifled and restricted in her movements. It also made it that much easier for those she was attempting to keep hidden from to hear her coming.

For Caleb, it was different. He had been trained to travel through thick brush, dunes, rocky shores, and snowy mountain peaks. Heavy armor, light armor, or none at all. Training for every possibility that he could. That was how he was raised. That was the soldier that he had trained himself to be.

But there was at least one scenario he had not planned for, and no amount of training could have prepared him for the reality even if he had.

He glanced to his side. Ashleigh had her eyes focused forward, searching the bushes and the trees ahead for any sign of movement, for any indication that an enemy was waiting for them.

But his focus was split.

His world had been shaken when they were surprised by the other two hybrids. He did what he needed to do. He kept them distracted while Ashleigh handled the first hybrid. But he kept thinking about her, worrying that the creature would manage to infect her, hurt her, or kill her.

Even now, he was worried.

After all the training and experience he had gained, he never could have known that he was not prepared to join battle with the woman he loved at his side.

His parents had fought many times at each other’s side, as had Wyatt and Corrine.

He knew what a skilled warrior Ashleigh was. He had seen it with his own eyes. So there was no reason for him to worry, and it was clear that she was not having the same issue. So why was he having such a difficult time? Why couldn’t he simply trust that she would be fine, like any other soldier he fought with?

“Caleb?”

Her voice brought his focus back to the present moment.

“Huh?”

“Are you all right?” she asked, turning to look at him closely. “I called your name three times.”

“Sorry…. I thought I heard something,” he replied.

“Then you heard it too?” she asked excitedly, lowering her head and looking back into the brush. “The sound I heard was like a shuffling… but I don’t see anything yet.”

Caleb furrowed his brows and focused his attention on their surroundings. He couldn’t get distracted again, or he would be the cause of Ashleigh’s danger.

He listened closely for the sounds of the night, for the soft thrum of forest night dwellers going about their nightly business. But there was something strange in the air. The sound of the bats, the owls, and the rodents running from place to place was almost silent. In its place, shuffling, soft grunts, and in the distance, very quietly, he heard crying.

“Moonguard wolves?” he asked in a whisper. “I hear at least two people crying quietly.”

Ashleigh nodded.

“The settlement isn’t far,” she replied. “We should be able to see the lights from here, but it’s total darkness.”

She sniffed the air, wrinkling her nose with a soft growl.

“Blood,” she whispered.

Caleb nodded.

“The animals have abandoned the area as well.”

“Noticed that,” Ashleigh sighed. “It’s weird… I don’t remember that happening this afternoon with the hybrids….”

Caleb nodded.

“I don’t either,” he said. “Which has me a little concerned about what we are about to find.”

“No use putting it off,” Ashleigh sighed. “We have no idea how much time we have left or what has happened to these wolves.”

Caleb took a deep breath.

“You’re right.”

They moved low and quietly until they could see the gates to the Moonguard settlement, they stood ajar, and they could see movement inside.

Caleb could not clearly see what was moving, but it was near the entrance. He looked up the walls, no sentries.

Getting Ashleigh’s attention, he signaled for them to climb, she nodded, and they made their way up the wall.

Once at the top, they settled into the shadows and made themselves small as they peered down into the grounds of the Moonguard settlement.

At first, they could only see dark shapes moving almost silently around the small dirt roads between the buildings. But eventually, one of these dark shapes moved into the moonlight.

Ashleigh had to cover her mouth to keep from gasping aloud.

Standing in the bright white light of the moon was a man covered in heavy, bulging vines that circled his arms and legs. Along the vines were sprouted leaves, mushrooms, and moss. Skin a dark green and brown like the forest floor that he dragged his rooted legs over. His mouth was wide, thick, dry, and cracked like the hardest bark of an ancient tree.

Caleb leaned forward, his eyes wide with shock and horror.

The man stood still, no longer dragging his roots in a shuffling motion. Instead, he lifted his chin to look up at the night sky.

Ashleigh caught the briefest glimpse of his milky white eyes, wet with tears, before the man screamed into the night.

His body collapsed in jerking motions, and his arms flew back as if pulled by some external source. The man screamed louder.

All around him, the other shadowed figures continued to shuffle, not reacting to the man’s screams or the bizarre twists and bends that his body was suffering.

Ashleigh felt the hot tears gathering at the top of her hand, still covering her mouth as she watched in complete horror, hearing every snap of his bone and the tear of his flesh.

Caleb put his arm around her and pulled her close. She almost let him hide her face and keep her from seeing the final torturous moments of the wolf’s life. But she knew she had to watch. She had to bear witness to it all.

After his body went still and his voice went silent, the man lay in a crumpled heap for several moments.

The sound came first.

That cacophonous wail they had heard when they first reached the bottom of the mountain.

But this time, Ashleigh heard something else inside of it.

She pushed forward out of Caleb’s arms to stare down at the source of the sound. There was movement as the old man’s remains were shaken away like a snake shedding its skin.

What was left, standing in the old man’s place, was a hybrid wolf.

Ashleigh moved back slowly toward Caleb.

“It was their scream…” she whispered.

“What?” Caleb asked.

Ashleigh looked up at him. Her eyes held the sadness and horror she felt in her realization.

“The howl… that terrible sound… it’s the scream of the wolf trapped inside….”