Page 64 of The Wolf

I ignore her words, already turning back toward the fight. “All of you—go! That’s an order.” I can’t think straight with all of them being around and so vulnerable right now.

Penny hesitates for a moment, I feel her eyes lingering on my back, but she eventually lets go. Without another word, she helps Farah to her feet and hoists Katia over her shoulder. Her magic flares and the wall shatters with a deafening crack. A gaping hole reveals a narrow tunnel leading upward.

Edwin stares me down.

I got this.I sigh, tearing my eyes away from him and darting forward into the fight.

Most of the rescued mutants joined our side and defeated their captors, clearing the space from danger. However, the next ones are already closing in.

I’m done playing games. I work seamlessly with my team and the first wave of newly arriving super-soldiers doesn’t even make it into the hallway. We tear through them like a hurricane, our claws ripping the high-tech armor and flesh with horrifying ease. The captives are right behind, slamming into the incoming second wave, proving what powerful weapons they are indeed.

The stench of burning chemicals fills the air as one soldier fires a flamethrower, its jet of fire scorching across the space blindly. I dodge, leaping toward him, and feel the delightful snap of his bones as I slam him into the ground. His screams are short-lived as my claws rip his heart out.

Another soldier raises a grenade launcher. Before he can fire, the reptilian from earlier lunges out of the shadows, its massive jaws snapping shut around his head. The man’s body convulses before going limp, his blood pooling on the floor. The creature lets out a guttural hiss, flicking its forked tongue toward me in acknowledgment before disappearing further into the battle.

The centaur charges into the formation again, scattering their ranks. But he’s quickly overwhelmed—three soldiers converge on him, silver-tipped spears stabbing into his sides. He lets out a pained bellow before collapsing, his massive frame twitching as his blood pools on the floor. One of the remaining witches tends to him immediately, though, and it looks like he will pull through.

Unlike the faith of the bear mutant. He moves with lightning speed, his massive, clawed paws slashing through the air, but his movements are reckless, too angry, and it costs him. A soldier fires a barrage of rounds into his chest, and he stumbles, clutching the wound before another grenade blast takes him down for good.

By the time the smoke clears, the last of the soldiers lie broken, their weapons scattered across the massacre on thefloor. I wipe the dripping blood from my claws, my eyes locking on the officer who has tried to stop us. He is still breathing, barely conscious, pinned under a fallen door.

“You should have stayed out of our way,” I growl, stepping over him, and with the final gurgle, he’s gone.

But there’s no time to celebrate. Overhead, the unmistakable whine of fighter jets intensifies. Their engines echo through the entire base, and the floor quakes as missiles strike the surface. The stairwell behind us collapses, cutting off our escape route.

“Penny, what’s going on the surface?”

“Vampires are holding the perimeter,” she reports. “We’ve got the outer defenses locked down, but those aircraft are going to be a problem. They’re deploying heavy artillery.”

As if on cue, the ground shakes violently again, dust raining down from the ceiling, followed by the thud of more explosions. My heart sinks. The humans are pulling out all the stops.

Satan can’t wait any longer.Edwin’s voice rings in my mind.

“We need to move,” I reply, scanning the hallway. All of the cells are open now, and the mutants are wreaking havoc. I look toward the tunnel that Penny’s carved. “Everyone topside! We’re not staying for the fireworks.”

My team doesn’t need to be told twice. They rush up above the ground to join the others.

“And you?” the centaur asks, frowning.

“I’ll make sure no one’s left behind.”

Reluctantly, he nods and begins rallying the other mutants.

I turn toward the other end of the hallway, moving deeper into the facility. My focus is locked ahead. There’s a hum in the air, a low vibration that makes my fur tingle, and it’s calling to me. The need to investigate is gnawing at me, despite my better judgment.

As I turn, the smaller hallway stretches before me, dimly lit, and there’s an unnatural stillness to the space, the scent of sulfur hanging faintly in the air. I reach a door at the far end. It’s one of the many cells, but this one is much more heavily reinforced than the others. The steel door is scratched and dented—evidence of some kind of violent struggle from within. A small window with thick bars sits at the top of the door, and I peer through it, my breath catching as I see the occupant inside.

A man. Maybe once a man, but now… something else.

He’s sitting perfectly still on the cot, hands folded neatly in his lap. To the naked eye, he looks completely normal—maybe apart from his lips curling into a smile that’s all too sharp, too knowing. But it’s not his appearance that stops my breath in my throat. No, it’s thepresencethat radiates from him, the oppressive weight that presses on my chest, making it hard to breathe.

A demon.

It’s not like the hybrids and other strange mutants that the government created. This creature is something else entirely. It’s a being from the shadow realm, a force that exists only in the dark between worlds. A spirit that’s powerful enough to possess the living and inhabit their bodies, twisting them into something unrecognizable.

I feel the shift in the air, the way the temperature drops, and the tension grows with the demon’s potency. It’s old.Ancient. It has witnessed wars, plagues, and deaths far beyond anything the humans could ever understand. And I can only assume it’s a pretty high-ranking one.

Then, without warning, the man’s head snaps toward the window. His eyes lock onto mine, and a voice slithers into my mind, cold and smooth, crawling inside me like ice running through my veins.

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