Chapter 9
The room exploded into chaos.
Radek’s massive wolf lunged with a roar that shook the steel walls, but we met him head-on—two shadows forged in pain, striking as one. My claws slashed across his side as he aimed for him, jaws wide, teeth like knives.
The impact was brutal. I felt my ribs scream, my vision blur, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. Not now. Not when we were this close.
He clashed with Radek again, their bodies a blur of fur and blood. The air was thick with snarls and the sound of flesh tearing. They slammed into the consoles, sparks flying as metal twisted and shattered beneath their weight.
I circled, my paws slipping on the blood-slick floor. Radek threw him hard into the wall, and for a split second, he didn’t move.
Something in me snapped.
I charged.
Radek turned too late.
I leapt, teeth sinking into his shoulder, claws digging into his chest. He howled, trying to shake me off, but I held tight, thrashing with every ounce of strength I had left.
He rolled, crushing me beneath his weight, but I didn’t let go. Even as his claws tore down my side, even as my body screamed for relief—I stayed locked on.
And then, from behind—
He struck again.
This time, the blade.
He’d shifted just long enough to grab it, and now it was buried deep in Radek’s side. The Alpha roared, trying to twist away, but it was too late.
Together, we brought him down.
He collapsed with a final, thunderous growl, blood pouring from his wounds, chest rising in ragged gasps. His wolf form flickered, faltered—until only a man remained.
Broken. Defeated.
I shifted back, my body trembling, covered in bruises and blood. He knelt beside me, breathing hard, blood running down his face.
Radek’s eyes found us both. Even on the edge of death, his pride was thick in his voice.
“You think ending me will end this?” he rasped. “There are others. Always others.”
He looked at me. “You’re nothing without the cage.”
I stepped closer and knelt beside him.
“You’re wrong,” I whispered. “The cage made me a survivor. But I’m more than that now. I’m free.”
He tried to laugh—but it ended in a cough. And then, he went still.
Dead.
It was done.
We stayed there for a long moment, the silence pressing heavy on our chests. The alarms still wailed. The air was thick with smoke and fire from the shattered equipment.
He turned to me, voice low. “It’s over.”
I nodded, barely able to believe it.
We limped out together, down the stairwell, past the broken bodies and shattered walls. We moved like ghosts, like shadows of the war we’d just survived.
Outside, the freed wolves were waiting. Some stared in disbelief. Others cried.
“We did it,” one whispered. “They actually did it.”
But it wasn’t just us.
They survived, too.
And together, we stepped into the rising light of dawn.