"Get in the alcove!" I shoved Clara into the shallow recess of the stone wall, shielding her with my own body.
"Luna, they will kill you!" Clara sobbed, her fingers digging into the torn fabric of my jeans. "You do not have your guard!"
"Stay down and keep your mouth shut," I ordered. I reached into my right boot and drew my silver dagger. The metal hummed against my palm, cold and familiar.
Three Rogues fanned out across the corridor. The smoke curled around their ankles, hiding their boots. Their yellow eyes locked onto the heavy steel door behind me.
"Look at this," the largest Rogue sneered. His voice was a gravelly rasp that scraped the walls. "The Alpha locked his own mate out. How pathetic. Did he get tired of you?"
"Take one more step," I warned, pointing the blade at his chest, "and I will cut your throat."
The beast laughed, a wet, hacking sound. "You are just a discarded bitch. Move aside. We have charges for that door."
He pulled a bundle of crude explosives from his tactical vest. The fuses dangled like dead snakes. If they planted those on the metal frame, the blast would rupture the bunker's structural integrity. Adrian, Lucas, and Celeste would be crushed under the collapsing ceiling.
"Give me the bombs," I demanded.
"Make me," the Rogue taunted.
"I said," I lowered my stance, my muscles coiling tight, "move."
"Tear her apart," the leader commanded from the back.
The large Rogue lunged. I ducked under his massive claws, stepping inside his guard. He swung wildly, underestimating my speed. My arm shot up. The silver blade pierced the soft tissue beneath his jaw, sinking deep into his throat. Hot blood sprayed across my face, blinding my left eye.
He choked, dropping the explosives to the floor. His hands clawed at his neck as he collapsed at my feet. The thick crimson liquid pooled around my boots, soaking through the laces.
"You stupid whore!" the second Rogue roared. His bones cracked loudly as he shifted into a massive gray wolf mid-stride.
"Come on!" I wiped the blood from my eyes, kicking the explosives away from the door. "Who is next?"
The gray wolf snapped its jaws, charging my left flank. I dodged, but its teeth caught the fabric of my sleeve. The wolf yanked hard, ripping the cloth away along with a layer of skin.
I hissed, driving the pommel of my dagger into its snout. The wolf yelped, stumbling backward.
"Luna!" Clara screamed from the alcove. "Behind you!"
I spun around. The third Rogue, still in human form, swung a heavy iron pipe at my head. I raised my left arm to block. The iron connected with my forearm. The bone fractured with a sickening snap.
"Die quietly!" the man spat, kicking me squarely in the ribs.
I staggered back, my spine hitting the cold steel of the bunker door. The metal vibrated against my skin. On the other side, it was completely silent. No shouts for help. No pounding on the glass.
"Do you hear that, Adrian?" I screamed over my shoulder, slamming my good elbow into the Rogue's face. "Are you watching this?"
The man stumbled, blood pouring from his broken nose. I did not hesitate. I drove my dagger into his chest, twisting the blade until he stopped moving.
Two down. One left.
The gray wolf circled me, its yellow eyes darting toward the explosives resting near my boots.
"You cannot hold me off forever," the wolf snarled, shifting back into a naked, scarred man. "Your Alpha abandoned you. Why die for him? Step away from the door and we will let you run."
"I am not dying for him," I spat, gripping the dagger with my uninjured hand. "I am dying for my pack."
"Then die."
A shadow detached itself from the thick smoke near the ceiling. I never saw the leader coming.
A massive force slammed into the center of my back. The impact shattered the air in my lungs. My spine snapped with a deafening crack, echoing through the corridor like a gunshot.
I crashed onto the hard floor tiles, my chin bouncing off the stone. The silver dagger skittered out of my reach, sliding under a pile of burning debris.
"Luna!" Clara shrieked.
I tried to push myself up. Nothing happened. My arms lay useless at my sides. My legs felt entirely disconnected from my body, floating in a numb void. Panic flared in my chest.
"Get up," I urged my inner wolf. "Please. Get up."
Deep inside my chest, my wolf let out a weak, mournful howl. The sound faded into a hollow echo, and then absolute silence. She was gone. She fell into a deep, heavy slumber, leaving me completely alone in my broken human shell.
"Plant the charges," the leader ordered, stepping over my paralyzed body. "Blow the door before reinforcements arrive."
"The fuses are soaked in blood!" the remaining Rogue complained, kneeling beside my head.
"Then dry them off and light them!" the leader barked.
I lay in a growing pool of my own blood, my cheek pressed against the cold tiles. My vision blurred, the edges of the hallway turning a fuzzy gray.
Directly above the bunker entrance, a small security camera stared down at me. A tiny red light blinked on its lens.
Active.
Adrian was in the control room. He was sitting in front of the monitors, watching the screen. He watched the Rogue leader strike my back. He watched my spine break. He watched me bleed out on the floor, all to keep the explosives away from the door that protected his new family. He watched his son's mother die so his precious Celeste could stay safe.
"Adrian," I whispered, blood bubbling past my lips. "Look at me."
The camera shifted slightly. The mechanical whir of the lens zooming in on my face echoed softly. He heard me. He was watching my life drain away.
The speaker above the camera clicked. Static hissed through the smoke.
Then Adrian's voice came through, calm enough to destroy me.
"Hold the seal. Do not open that door until the corridor is secure."
The last thing I heard before darkness took me was the bunker lock engaging a second time.
