was going to the south side. The third team would continue to the city center. Lucan followed his father, Maz right behind him. God, Lucan loved the way his body moved, so fluid and effortless, so graceful and strong. He felt like he could run for hours and not grow tired, and it was an amazing feeling.
And the way he could see in the dark… No squinting, no vague shapes. Everything was crystal clear, even though night was falling fast. All his senses were heightened. He smelled every scent from the warm grass to the fragrant flowers, the stench of animal urine that marked their territory, and the mouth-watering aroma of rabbits that fled as they approached. And his hearing was phenomenal. The rustling of leaves, the heavy thud-thud of their paws, and at one point, the light taps of an animal dashing away. A deer maybe?
His father led them at a high pace until they reached the city’s outer edge. Then he slowed down to a trot. Adar formed the rear as they made their way through sparse gardens, buildings in all states of disrepair, parking lots filled with smashed-in cars, some half burned. The south side had never been a fun, optimistic neighborhood to be around, but this was awful.
And god, the stench… Lucan shivered. Had they stopped trash collection? Or was there a sewage issue somewhere? It was horrendous, his nose tickling with it. Yuk.
Just like Palani and Sivney had reported from their previous mission, the streets were deserted. That in itself was exceptional in this part of town, where darkness always brought out the dealers and the addicts, the hookers and their johns, all the seedy elements the city had to offer. A curfew had to be in place, but that on its own shouldn’t have been enough to deter the folks here. Laws and rules had never impeded them much. So what was keeping them inside? What dangers lurked that Lucan and the others weren’t aware of?
They sneaked past four army roadblocks, the soldiers never even noticing them despite the bright lights that illuminated the area around them. They were loud, chatting with each other, holding their rifles loosely in their hands. One smoked; another slapped him on his shoulder. The wolves stayed in the shadows, moving soundlessly.
When they were still two blocks away from the barracks, the first sounds traveled toward them. People talking to each other. Crying. Screams. Wailing babies. Angry voices shouting. Whatever was going on in the old barracks, they housed people, a lot of them, and they weren’t happy.
His father guided them to the back of the compound, where they followed the fence until Adar halted. He sniffed the ground, raised his head, then snuffled some more. He walked back a bit, then let out a soft growl and pawed the dirt. The team gathered around him. What was that? It looked like a…a tunnel. A very narrow one, though, hardly big enough for an alpha to fit through. The unmistakable scent of humans permeated the air. Omegas, to be precise. Omegas had been here not long ago.
Adar went in, carefully crawling into the tunnel until they lost sight of him. A minute or two later, he returned, jerking his head to indicate they should follow him. Into the tunnel they crept, one after the other. It had been crudely dug, the small imprints showing it must have been done using a small hand trowel. That must’ve taken them a while.
The tunnel came out on the other side of the fence, way in the back fields of the barracks. Unlike what Palani and Sivney had described about the Alpha Elite Boarding School, the lights were on here. Watchtowers stood at equal distances around the actual barracks, each installed with stationary lights as well as a roving spotlight. Each watchtower was manned by four soldiers with guns, their silhouettes visible against the backdrop of the lights. They were guarding something, then. But what? Did this mean the rumors about a camp were true?
Lucan shivered as his father brought them to a halt. They spent five minutes observing from the shades, and Lucan had no trouble figuring out what his father and Adar were doing. They were trying to find the blind spots the roving lights created, since the stationary lights couldn’t illuminate everything.
Finally, Adar nodded. Then he shifted in a flash. He gestured them all to come close, and the weird thing was that Lucan wasn’t even bothered that the alpha