44: Ada's POV

While I made a large effort to not think about where I came from and all of the terrible things that had led me to be in the position I was in now, it was hard to deny the amount of growth I'd had in mere months when I did. My heart pounded as Nik, Phoenix and I trekked through the dark woods and hills of the Midnight Pack. Beads of sweat dripped down my forehead from the heat. My muscles ached, but they didn't scream at me with every movement. I wasn't lightheaded from the physical exertion. Instead, I felt solid, awake, alert. Clearly my bond with Sahara was snapping back into place because the long-forgotten and hardly used instincts I'd had years ago were returning.

I was aware of every passing animal, could sense every movement of nearby patrols. My vision adjusted automatically with the twilight as the sun sank behind the horizon. Lungs that used to burn while doing simple farm work were at ease while I hiked miles at a time with two of the Alpha Princes of the Kingdom of the Moonglade. Yeah, if someone had asked me on my eighteenth birthday if this is where I thought I would wind up... I would have laughed. But here I was.

In an even bigger twist of irony, I was longing for the burning lungs and aching body as a distraction. While I was perfectly aware of everything happening around us, I would be lying if I said I wasn't relying on Nik and Phoenix to lead me while my mind was elsewhere. I knew I should be focused on what was in front of me, providing whatever details I could in order to find things a bit more easily. It was what Darius would want. Yet I couldn't stop thinking about Darius, stuck in that awful packhouse surrounded by horrible and treacherous wolves -- the worst of which was either the Luna of the Midnight pack (and also my rotten stepmother) Francine *or* his very own bonafide fiance, Lady Elizabeth Jane. Something about what he was doing felt far more dangerous than what we were doing.

However, if we were caught traipsing about in the forest and snooping where we were uninvited by the hosting Alpha, we would be killed just the same as he would be if he was caught in the lie about celebrating his engagement. There wasn't any comfort in that thought.

We had waited several hours after Darius, Elizabeth and my father had disappeared from the train station to head out on our own quest. Our goal was to gain as much information as possible about what was happening on my father's territory without any of the pack being made aware of our presence. Nik wanted to cover as much of the territory as possible in as short a time as possible, which would have not taken long if I could shift with them. Since I couldn't shift and they didn't want to risk me riding on their backs and getting injured or stuck with one of them in danger, they remained in their human forms while we trekked. I may have been faster than I would have been if we'd done this when I'd first arrived at Oberon Castle, but at this rate it would take months for us to tour the entire territory.

I'd said as much repeatedly before being reminded by Nik that we could only use our mindlinks going forward so that we didn't risk being overheard. Phoenix had then grumbled that he might take me out himself if I constantly complained in his head so I stayed relatively silent. Our wolves night vision allowed us to see decently enough in the dark to avoid large branches or brush that would make a lot of noise. Based on a few physical landmarks we'd passed, I could deduce that we were a few miles from the farm I'd been placed on. It didn't surprise me that was where we were headed first. As the largest and most well guarded agricultural land on the Midnight Pack's territory, Nik and Phoenix needed to assess it with their own eyes.

They had a device that could be used to capture images of things and send them directly back to the castle, as well as attach reports with assessments of any evidence of treason they may find. I was sure it wouldn't go over well, but since they had this device, they'd sent the few remaining soldiers and guards back to the castle with the remainder of the arms and supplies in the train-- whatever we couldn't carry. Phoenix had claimed it was because the more people traipsing about in the woods the more chance there was of being caught. Nik had shot down my concern about protection quickly with a snort and a roll of his eyes.

So we'd set off, alone and on foot, toward the north. That was hours ago. We'd made it almost ten miles, nearly silent, when Nik stopped suddenly. I'd almost ran into his back as I'd been looking down at the ground, but Phoenix had grabbed my shoulders from behind me and jolted me to a stop. Nik cocked his head to the side, mindlinking Phoenix and I, *I'm going to shift and set up a perimeter of runes. You two set up camp here. Keep the fire low.*

*No talking still?* I sent back, finding the bonds linking our minds to be easier to find and follow than before.

He simply shot me a look, shed the pack from his back and shifted into his wolf. Even with my wolf's vision, his long-furred black wolf disappeared into the shadows. Phoenix dropped his pack as well, motioning for me to do the same. I did so, sitting on it and dragging the back of my hand across my forehead. Phoenix had a fire going within minutes, bed rolls set up shortly after that, and food heating up on the low flames before I could register his fast movements. Everything he did seemed fluid, like it was something he'd done a hundred or even a thousand times.

It was then that I realized I'd wedged Phoenix into fitting a certain image in my mind because he was so kind, sweet. Our one union had been so... adolescent for such a grown man. I'd thought of him as a friendly lover, who was also a Prince, but wasn't power hungry and who had never seen trauma. But that wasn't fair to him. He was Phoenix Ashford, Alpha Prince of the Divine Earth and potential heir to the Alpha King of the Kingdom of the Moonglade. He'd most likely seen battle just as often as his older brothers. Phoenix had probably lost lovers, friends and enemies just as anyone else in his position would have. He'd also been raised by Alpha King Everett, who (in my experience alone) was a cruel and vindictive man.

I watched Phoenix as he laid on his side on his bed roll, poking at one of the cans he'd placed in the fire. The flickering light from the flames made his auburn hair appear to be ablaze. His eyes were fixed on the fire, his face grave as he looked at the embers.

There was a flash in my mind and then an image appeared. It was like a memory that I was living, and that was when i realized it was Nik. He was sending me a memory of *his* of his little brother in some unnamed battle. Phoenix was surrounded by wolves but was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with someone who had remained in human form. His long, firey locks were splayed out behind him as he lunged forward with a dagger in his hand. His feet weren't touching the ground and I realized he'd probably used one of the various wolves around him as some sort of board to jump off of and was jumping *down* onto his target. The hair that surrounded his face was slick with sweat, clinging to his skin. Dirt and grime were caked onto his face and visible skin. He wore metal armor, sleek but most likely heavy as hell. His eyes... they held such pain and hatred as they looked at his target.

My chest tightened as I responded back, *Who was that?*

*The man who killed an entire unit that was under Phoenix's command,* Nik's voice was low, soft, *Don't ever make the mistake of thinking any one of the three of us is soft again. Just because he's more friendly doesn't mean he wouldn't slit your throat if you gave him reason to think of you as an enemy.*

A twig snapped behind me. Phoenix was up on his feet as I turned around, gripping the hilt of the dagger that the two princes had provided me. Nik appeared, in human form and fully clothed. He smirked, his voice husky as he spoke aloud, "Come now, Phoenix. Runes are up. No one can hear us or find us," his black eyes twinkled with the firelight and I swallowed loudly, not removing my hand from the hilt of the dagger, "Why don't we give our Ada something she secretly longs for?"