Chapter 367: Surrounded

Miles’ wolf ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

Snow tore beneath his paws, spraying up behind him as the forest blurred into streaks of black and white. The wind howled past his ears, cold slicing through fur and skin, but he didn’t slow. He couldn’t.

The whistle grew louder with every second.

Closer.

Closer.

Sophia clung tightly to the thick fur around his neck, body pressed low against his back to keep from being thrown off by his speed. Her breath came in sharp bursts, frost clinging to her lashes, fingers numb but refusing to loosen their grip.

They were close. She was sure of that. The sound indicated so, but then, suddenly, the whistling stopped.

Miles felt it instantly—the sudden silence, the way the forest seemed to hold its breath.

His heart slammed harder in his chest.

Sophia felt it too.

"It stopped," she whispered, dread curling tight in her stomach.

Her thoughts raced. Signals didn’t just stop unless the person couldn’t make them anymore... or didn’t need to.

Neither option made her feel better. She could only pray that the Moon Goddess protected whoever had sent the signal and that maybe the others were closer than she and Miles were.

Miles’ wolf didn’t slow down even with that.

If anything, he pushed harder.

He leapt over fallen logs, cut through clusters of trees, changed direction sharply as he followed the last place he’d heard the sound. Snow grew thicker underfoot as he moved as fast as he could.

--- 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Joren had known the moment he heard the water that perhaps he had found something important.

What he hadn’t expected... was just how important.

The stream he had followed widened into a shallow river, its dark surface flowing steadily between snow-lined banks. Black rocks jutted up from the water and the shore, half-submerged, slick and uneven.

At first, everything had looked quiet. He wondered what was wrong, senses on alert.

But then Gale had stiffened, ears picking up scents and sounds.

Gale immediately paused and started turning, but he was already too late. He had already made the mistake of going to the river.

The snow to his left shifted.

Then to his right.

Then in front of him.

The rocks moved.

And suddenly, they weren’t rocks at all.

Four massive Tidebreaker Korraths rose from the riverbank and the water, their black-and-white striped bodies slick with moisture, heavy limbs braced against the ground. Their eyes were pale and unblinking, fixed entirely on him.

They were faster than he’d expected. The books had said the Tidebreakers were fast, but they didn’t explain how fast.

The first one had lunged, slamming into him and sending him crashing into the snow. He’d rolled, barely avoiding snapping jaws, claws tearing through the space where his throat had been a second earlier.

He shifted instantly, knowing there was no way he could do this alone, and started whistling as per the agreed signal. He whistled in loud bursts and hoped that the others heard him and were close enough to help him.

But for the meantime, he wasn’t giving up. He shifted again just as one moved to strike him, letting Gale take over.

He attacked.

And they attacked back.

They had chased him away from the water and into a small clearing between clusters of trees and stone, cutting off every path he tried to take. He fought with teeth and claws, slashing, snapping, dodging where he could.

But they were relentless.

One of the Korraths lunged, huge paw raised to hit Joren, but he used his shortswords to cut it.

Another thing the book hadn’t noted was how thick the hide of the Tidebreaker was.

While he cut at one, another lunged at him, not giving him the chance to even roll over. Joren wondered if perhaps his time was up and this was how he left the world, but the Moon Goddess wasn’t going to let him go yet.

An arrow sliced through the air.

It buried itself cleanly into the beast’s eye.

The Tidebreaker howled, moving back as pain overtook it.

Joren barely had time to process it before another arrow followed, forcing the second beast to recoil.

"Joren!"

Bianca burst through the trees, already shifting mid-stride, her form snapping and reshaping as she hit the clearing. Fur replaced skin, her wolf surging forward without hesitation as she launched herself straight at one of the remaining beasts.

Relief crashed into him so hard it almost made his knees buckle.

He wasn’t alone anymore.

He shifted again, letting Gale fully take over as they rejoined the fight, slamming into the nearest Korrath with renewed force.

For a moment—just a moment—it felt like they might actually turn this around.

But once more, they noticed the Tidebreakers were adapting to their attack patterns.

They changed formation.

One stayed back, circling wide, watching.

Another rushed Bianca, forcing her to retreat, snapping at her legs, trying to drag her down.

Joren attacked from the side, tearing into its flank, but the third beast barreled into him, sending both of them crashing into the snow in a tangle of limbs and claws.

They rolled, biting and striking, teeth scraping against thick hide that was far tougher than it looked.

Then another arrow whistled past them.

Uther dropped from the tree line, landing hard and shifting even as he hit the ground, his wolf surging forward to join the fray.

Three wolves.

Four Tidebreakers.

They fought back-to-back now, covering each other, snapping and lunging in coordinated bursts. Bianca darted in and out, fast and precise. Uther went straight for raw strength, his wolf ramming into the beasts with brutal force. Joren stayed mobile, striking wherever he saw an opening.

They managed to injure another Korrath, blood darkening its striped hide.

But none of them went down.

And the Tidebreakers were learning.

They began to push them together.

Forcing them into tighter space.

Cutting off their ability to move freely.

Joren’s lungs burned, every muscle screaming as he snapped at one beast’s throat, only to be slammed from the side by another. He tumbled, scrambling back to his feet just in time to see Bianca get knocked into the snow.

Uther barreled into the attacker, forcing it off her, but that left his flank open—

Another Korrath lunged.

Joren leapt, intercepting it just in time, claws digging deep as they crashed into each other again.

The clearing was chaos.

Snow churned into slush and blood.

Breath came in harsh, ragged gasps.

And still... the beasts didn’t retreat.

Instead, they closed in.

They formed a loose circle around the three of them, heads low, muscles coiled, eyes unblinking and cold.

Waiting.

Joren felt it then.

That shift in the air.

That moment when a hunt turned into a kill.

We need backup, Gale warned grimly. The three of you alone wouldn’t be able to defeat them.

Joren knew that. He was sure Uther and Bianca did too. But Joren also wondered if perhaps the direction of the fight would change if the others arrived.

And if they couldn’t defeat the Tidebreakers, then they would fail the test.

He lifted his head just enough to look at Bianca and Uther.

They were breathing heavily. Blood was dripping from Uther’s wolf’s hind leg. Bianca’s head was injured, and he wondered if she could see well. Joren himself bled from his head too, blood pouring softly into his eyes, and his ribs ached badly.

And the Tidebreakers were still standing. Even with the injuries they had managed to inflict on them, they remained standing.

Three betas... surrounded by four Tidebreaker Korraths.