Chapter 30 · She Doesn't Kneel

"She can't walk."

Rena's got her mother's arm over her shoulder, and Lena's legs just—fold. Like somebody cut the strings. Fifteen years in a concrete box. Fifteen years of moonlight through a grate and whatever her wolf could drag down in the dark.

"Mom—"

Lena's lighter than she should be. Bones and skin, that's it. But her eyes are sharp. "I can do this."

"You can't." Cain's leaning against the bunker wall, one hand pressed to his side. Blood's dripping between his fingers. Silver wound. "Silver Oath's two minutes out. Maybe less."

Ella grabs Lena's other arm, hooks it over her shoulder. "Then we carry her."

"They'll catch us." Cain pushes off the wall. His face is pale. Sweat at his temples. "We need another way."

Rena's wolf is screaming. Not the usual snarl—this is different. This is *pack*. This is *protect what's yours*. She can feel the bond snapping into place. The thing Cain's been talking about for weeks. The thing she's been fighting.

Her mother. Her Alpha. The healer who patched her up a dozen times.

*Hers*.

"There's a drainage tunnel." Lena's voice is hoarse. Barely a rasp. "East side. Goes a quarter mile.