Side Story 4.30 - The Bait

Hans’s POV

The night stretched on, silent and heavy with tension. The plan was in motion.

Jhoanna and I were separated.

It had to look real. The enemy faction had to believe we were desperate, fleeing toward Mael’s pack for safety after discovering they were hunting us. They needed to think we were weak. Vulnerable.

We had made it believable—setting out under the cover of night, traveling in a way that seemed reckless, frantic, as if we had no other choice. Mael’s warriors had deliberately kept their distance, ensuring no patrols were close enough to deter an ambush.

We wanted them to come for us.

And thankfully they did.

It started with a sound—barely a whisper of movement in the trees. A shadow shifting where none shou