Page 69 of Anders
He was getting closer.
But so were they.
And Etta was running out of time.
The realization settled into Anders’s bones with cold certainty.This wasn’t just a rescue mission anymore.It was a race against death itself.
The guardian, the soldier, the wolf—all aspects of his nature merged into a single, focused purpose.
Find Etta.Save her.Protect what was his.
No matter what it took, no matter what he had to sacrifice, he would reach her in time.
And anyone who tried to stop him would learn exactly why wolves were apex predators.
CHAPTER 16
ETTA FLED DEEPER INTOthe wilderness beyond Sunburst territory.
Her lungs burned with exertion, but she couldn’t stop—not when every shadow seemed to hold enemies, not when her own mind was the most dangerous terrain of all.
Keep moving,she whispered to herself, her voice ragged from thirst.They’ll find you if you stop.
Even as she spoke, Etta wasn’t entirely certain whotheywere anymore.
The Chimera operatives hunting their escaped asset?The Sunburst Pack she’d unwittingly betrayed?Or the fragments of herself, splintered and broken, fighting for dominance inside her skull?
Her feet followed game trails instinctively, movements alternating between the methodical precision of her intelligence training and the panicked scramble of a cornered animal.
One moment she was carefully covering her tracks, erasing evidence of her passage; the next, she was careening through desert underbrush, heedless of the broken trail she left behind.
A sharp pain lanced through her temples, and Etta stumbled, catching herself against the rough bark of a tree.A scent like gin filled her nostrils.
But above that, she could smell the scent of pine trees, leading her up, back into the forest, and triggering another cascade of memories.
Her father’s strong hands lifting her onto his shoulders.Smell that?That’s pine resin.If you’re ever lost in the forest, follow the scent of pine.It will lead you home.
Her mother laughing, white-blonde hair catching the sunlight.She’s barely four!Don’t fill her head with survival tactics just yet.
Never too early to learn.The Silverleaf Pack has survived because we respect the old ways…
The memory dissolved as a spasm of pain shot through Etta’s body.She doubled over, a hoarse cry escaping her lips as her fingernails lengthened into claws, then retracted, then lengthened again—her body caught in a partial shift she couldn’t control.
Stop,she gasped, pressing her forehead against the cool bark.Please stop.
But the suppression chemicals were failing faster now, their artificial barriers crumbling under the pressure of her awakening wolf.
Each new memory that returned seemed to accelerate the process, her true nature fighting its way back to the surface after decades of enforced dormancy.
When the spasm passed, Etta pushed herself upright, tasting blood where she’d bitten her lip.She needed shelter, somewhere to hide while her body fought this internal war.Somewhere she could think without fear of capture.
The terrain sloped upward, and Etta followed it on instinct, her lupine senses seeking higher ground.Better visibility.Better defense.The wolf in her, growing stronger by the hour, knew what to do even if she didn’t.
As the sun climbed higher, casting dappled shadows through the forest, something about the rocky outcropping ahead tugged at her awareness.A sense of familiarity that wasn’t just déjà vu.
She’d been here before.
Not as Etta Barone, journalist.Not even as the person who’d lived in the Montana house with humanparents—agents of Chimera assigned to maintain her cover until she was old enough for deployment.
