Predator Code (Tales from Wildhearth #1)

Chapter 39 - Wolfbait

Jett physically shuddered once the wolfkin guards withdrew safely behind the barrier. The scale of what was happening here hit her like a brick to the stomach, and she wanted to vomit. With the enforcers gone, the hubbub from the new arrivals rose in a panicked swell, rippling down the winding paths and echoing up through the cavern.

Looking down into the pit, she saw some of the kin already down her moving to meet the new arrivals, directing them to their living spaces and trying to calm them down. She wondered just how many of the poor souls trapped down her actually believed what the wolfkin were selling them. It was different for people like her. She'd always lived on the margins, keeping an arms-length relationship with any kind of authority. She'd never trusted the Conclave.

She trudged away from the door, out of the flow, and moved over to the cold, damp rock wall. There she leaned, trying to think.

"This is..." Bronco struggled for the words, shaking his head in disbelief. "I can't believe it."

"Well, what did ya expect to find?" Rapid laughed grimly. "All singing, dancing, happy families? This is what the wolves get up to when nobody keeps 'em leashed."

Jett closed her eyes, trying not to listen to her companions as the enormity of what was being done here slammed home. Looking through all the data, all the official orders and piecing this puzzle together had been one thing, but now she was staring at. Now she was in it. The thought was almost enough to overwhelm her.

Almost.

She sucked a steadying breath through clenched teeth and straightened up, glancing back at the heavy industrial doors that sealed them in. Her eyes narrowed, flicking their way across every bolt and plate along the interior control panels long since disabled by the wolfkin occupiers. More pieces of her plan began to coalesce as she mentally retraced her steps through the facility, along the route they'd taken and back to those security doors that led deeper. To the screams.

Nodding to herself, Jett turned her attention to the residents of this pit, examining the lines of citykin. She spotted some of those already down here moving to greet the new arrivals. A reassuring shake of paws as they directed them to the living areas not currently occupied. Other groups, however, looked far less docile.

She could see groups of younger kin gesturing furiously as they argued with some of their older companions, angry voices rising into the air. There were enough of them there to facilitate what she had in mind, and her eyes were drawn specifically to the young otterkin who'd attempted to stand up to the wolfkin earlier. He'd already found himself some sympathisers, hunkered down conversing urgently with a dozen other aggressive-looking spirits.

"Time to put the leash back on," Jett growled, her hackles rising. "C'mon, we're not staying here a second longer than we have to."

Rapid shot her a dubious look. "Y' got a plan, bright eyes?"

"You're damn right I do," she said as she walked past him. "I think it's time for a jailbreak."

Unsure of what else to do, the others quickly fell in behind her as she set off down one of the precarious sloping paths, striding purposefully towards the group of malcontents.

"How're you planning to break out of this place?" Bronco asked quietly as they walked.

Jett made a vague gesture over her shoulder with one paw. "I can pop those bulkheads from our side."

"That's not a plan," Karno interjected. "I could open those hulks with my eyes closed, but that doesn't do us much good with the wolfkin guarding every exit."

"Which is why we need a diversion."

"And how do you plan on..." The wolfkin's eyes widened as the solution dawned on him. "Oh. Oh, right. I guess that'll work."