We spent the next two hours preparing.

Zane showed me how to set simple traps, tripwires connected to bells that would announce an approach, false trails to confuse tracking, defensive positions that would give us the high ground advantage.

I practiced suppressing my power signature until it was barely a whisper, coating myself in Zane's masking powder.

The sensation was unsettling, like being wrapped in cotton, muffled and diminished.

By eleven p.m., we were as ready as we'd ever be.

The Purifier arrived at 11:47. I felt his presence the moment he entered my awareness range, a sharp, focused power signature that felt nothing like other wolves I'd encountered.

This...