Page 49 of Howl For A Kiss
"Stay far away from me and Fiona," Elena said with deadly quiet. "Because next time I won't be as merciful."
She turned away from the wounded Beta, her weapons still ready, and found Damon watching her with pride in his green eyes.
"Ready to get out of here?" she asked, adrenaline still singing through her veins.
But even as they prepared to make their final escape from the Tidewater stronghold, Elena knew that everything had changedtonight. Damon had chosen her over duty, over everything he had built his life around. The rebellion had gained not just a powerful ally, but a symbol that tradition could be overcome by love and truth.
The wind cut through the moonlit forest as Elena led her rebel group and the rescued young rebels away from the Tidewater stronghold. Snow crunched beneath their boots as they ran, each step taking them farther from the nightmare they'd just escaped. Elena's heart hammered with residual adrenaline, but underneath the battle-high ran something deeper—pure, overwhelming relief.
Fiona was alive. Fiona was here, running beside her through the moonlit forest with tears streaming down her face.
"Elena," Fiona gasped between labored breaths, "I can't believe you came for me."
Elena reached out and squeezed her sister's hand without breaking stride. "I should have come sooner. But I should never have left you there in the first place."
Behind them, the four rebels who had created the diversion at the main entrance caught up to their group.
Daniel's face split into a fierce grin as he fell into step beside Elena. "That was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen—watching you put that bastard Marcus in his place."
"We're not safe yet," Damon's commanding voice cut through their celebration. Elena felt her pulse quicken at the raw authority in his tone. Even stripped of his Beta title, he moved with the dangerous grace of a born leader. "They'll send trackers. We need to cover more ground."
Elena glanced back at the other five young rebels they'd rescued from the holding cells. They were pushing themselves hard, but exhaustion and trauma were taking their toll. At this pace, they wouldn't make it to Cade's compound before the Tidewater pack organized a proper pursuit.
"How far to the compound?" she called to Damon.
His green eyes caught the moonlight as he calculated. "Eight miles through this terrain. Too far on foot with this many wounded."
Elena's tactical mind raced through their options, then landed on the obvious solution. Her wolf stirred beneath her skin, eager for the freedom of her true form. Around her, she could sense the other shifters having the same realization.
"We shift," she decided. "All of us. The young rebels can ride, and we'll cover ground faster as wolves."
Fiona's eyes widened. "Elena, I've never seen you shift before."
"Well, let's just say, I finally discovered my true nature," Elena said, already shrugging out of her tactical jacket.
The transformation started with Elena, her clothes falling away as her bones lengthened and reshaped. The burn of her first few shifts had given way to something smoother and more natural. When she emerged as her rare white wolf, the moonlight seemed to gather in her fur, making her glow like a spirit of the winter forest.
One by one, the others followed her lead. Damon's massive dark wolf appeared beside her, the distinctive white patch over his heart standing out against his rich brown fur. Daniel and the other rebels shifted into their wolf forms with practiced ease, while Fiona and the young rebels managed their transformations with varying degrees of success due to their exhaustion.
Elena's white wolf form moved to Fiona's smaller brown wolf, nuzzling her sister with gentle reassurance. Through the pack bond that connected them all in this moment, she felt Fiona's wonder and fear blend into something approaching joy.
"This is who we really are," Elena's wolf seemed to say through their connection. "This is freedom."
Damon's wolf took the lead position naturally, his dominant presence undeniable even without his former title. When the rescued rebels who couldn't shift properly climbed onto the backs of the larger wolves, Elena felt a surge of protectiveness flow through their group.
Then they ran.
Through the snow-covered forest they moved as one united pack, their paws finding sure footing on the treacherous terrain. Elena's white wolf form raced alongside Damon's dark brown wolf, their movements synchronized in perfect harmony. Behind them, their rebel pack followed with the determination of people who had tasted freedom and would die before giving it up.
This was what the rebellion truly meant—not just fighting against oppression but creating something new. Something better. A family forged not by blood or tradition, but by choice and shared purpose.
When Cade's compound finally appeared through the trees, Elena's wolf form let out a howl of triumph that echoed through the forest. One by one, the others joined their voices to hers until the night rang with the sound of victory.
They shifted back to human form just inside the compound gates, none of them caring about their nudity as they embraced in a tangle of relief and joy. Elena found herself laughing through her tears as Fiona threw her arms around her.
"We did it," Fiona whispered against her ear. "We really did it."
Elena pulled back to look at her sister—really look at her. Fiona's face still bore the marks of her ordeal, but her hazel eyes blazed with newfound strength. She was no longer the frightened girl who had been forced into an abusive mating. She was a rebel, a survivor, a warrior in her own right.
