Chapter 22

  Plan's made and a Foolish Panther

  Luna straightened, her tail flicking once behind her like a warning lash.

  “Enough,” she said, her voice slicing through the noise of the women’s arguments.

  The pantherman’s golden eyes shifted to her, his expression cool, almost amused.

  “You have something to add, cat?”

  Luna stepped forward, her tone calm but carrying an edge sharp enough to draw blood. “You all want to know why Lux isn’t here? Why the guards found him outside the gate?” She locked eyes with the pantherman. “Ask him. He’s the reason.”

  A ripple went through the group—gasps, mutters, and a few sharp intakes of breath. The pantherman’s smirk faltered for a fraction of a second before reforming into something colder.

  “That’s a dangerous claim, little one,” he replied, his voice slow and deliberate.

  “You’d better have proof.”

  Luna didn’t break eye contact. “The rabbit girl saw you kick him out and call for the guards. She also told me you tried to lead his group into a trap before that. So go ahead—deny it.

  Let’s see who believes you.”

  The murmurs behind her swelled again, this time tinged with anger. A few of the rescued women took half steps away from him, as though physically separating from whatever he might do next.

  His tail lashed once, muscles coiling under his fur, but Luna didn’t flinch. “You’re no leader,” she said flatly. “And you won’t be leading this group.”

  The pantherman’s lips curled back just enough to show a hint of his sharp teeth. His voice was low, but it carried to everyone in the clearing.

  “You think you can speak for them? One day, little cat, you’ll learn—words like that can get you gutted in your sleep. And when it happens…” His gaze slid across the group, letting it rest on each of the women for a heartbeat too long. “…none of these people will stop me.”

  A few of the women averted their eyes, shifting uncomfortably, but Luna stood her ground.

  His tail flicked once more, slow and deliberate, before he turned away, muttering something under his breath in a language most of them didn’t recognize.

  Lux's pov

  The forest floor blurred under Lux’s boots as he sprinted, weaving between roots and low branches. His lungs burned, every breath harsh in the predawn chill. Behind him, the guards’ shouts grew fainter, but he didn’t dare slow.

  His mind was a split mess—half focused on staying ahead of pursuit, half gnawing on the image of the pantherman’s smirk just before the kick came.

  I should’ve seen it coming.

  A branch whipped across his cheek, snapping him back into the moment. He angled toward a dense thicket, sliding into it with barely a sound, crouching low. The guards thundered past moments later, their armor clinking, their voices overlapping in frustration.

  Lux stayed still until their noise faded, then exhaled slowly. The eastern horizon was starting to pale—he had little time to figure out where to go next before the sun made hiding a lot harder.

  Lux kept low, circling wide until the city walls of Springvale came into view again. The gate was too risky this close to sunrise—guards would be sharp, checking faces.

  Instead, he found the narrow drainage channel he’d spotted days ago, the one half-choked with moss and debris. It was barely wide enough to crawl through, and it reeked, but it would get him inside without passing under any suspicious eyes.

  He slid in on his belly, careful not to scrape metal or leather against stone, moving inch by inch until the trickle of foul water led him to the shadowed edge of an abandoned storehouse near the outer market.

  Pushing the grate aside, Lux pulled himself out, brushing muck off his hands. Already the market was waking—merchants setting up stalls, clinking crates, voices carrying over the cool morning air. He pulled his hood low and melted into the growing crowd, just another face moving with purpose.

  In his chest, his heart was still hammering from the chase, but his mind was already working through the next steps—Luna, Renn, the freed captives, and the problem of the pantherman.

  The pantherman’s low growl rumbled in his throat, his claws angled toward Luna as the air between them crackled with tension. The freed demi-humans stood in a loose, uneasy ring, their murmurs hushed but heated—Renn clutching her parents, the rabbit girl watching with barely hidden fury.

  Then a shadow moved behind the pantherman, silent as the grave.

  The cold press of steel touched the side of his neck, and a familiar voice spoke in a calm, razor-edged tone.

  “They won’t have to…” Lux leaned in close, his breath warm against the pantherman’s ear. “…because I’m really hard to kill.”

  The murmuring stopped instantly. The pantherman stiffened, his tail twitching once, but he didn’t dare move.

  Luna’s amber eyes widened just slightly—not in surprise that Lux had survived, but at the way he’d reappeared, like a ghost who refused to stay buried.

  “You’ve got one chance,” Lux murmured, the blade unmoving. “Drop the act, step back, and pray I’m feeling generous today.”

  The pantherman’s ears flattened, but his tone oozed defiance. “You think steel makes you the alpha here, human?”Before Lux could respond, Luna stepped forward, her voice cutting sharp through the cold morning air.

  “He’s already proven he’s the alpha,” she said, her gaze locked on the pantherman. “While you were busy selling out your own kind, Lux was risking his life—over and over—to save them.”

  The murmurs of the rescued demi-humans swelled again, this time with agreement.

  “You’ve lost their trust,” Luna continued, stepping closer until her shadow brushed the pantherman’s. “You’ve lost my trust. And right now, you’re one twitch away from losing your life too.”

  Lux’s knife didn’t waver. The pantherman’s jaw worked as if he were about to spit some venomous reply, but the weight of every eye on him—and the unyielding press of cold steel—kept him still.

  “Step. Back,” Lux said, voice low.After a tense beat, the pantherman shifted one foot back, then the other, slowly lowering his claws.

  “You just made the smartest choice of your life,” Lux murmured, pulling the blade away.

  Luna caught Lux’s gaze, her amber eyes flicking to the rescued group, then back to him.

  For a heartbeat, neither spoke—a silent exchange weighed with trust, responsibility, and the unspoken question.Her tail swished once, slow and deliberate, before she gave the faintest smirk.

  “Both,” she said quietly, just loud enough for him to hear.

  Lux gave a single, sharp nod. “Then we do this together.”

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  They turned in unison to face the group—Renn still clinging to her parents, the rabbit girl watching tensely, the fox couple holding each other, and the rest looking for direction

  Lux’s knife lowered from the pantherman’s throat, but his grip stayed firm on the man’s shoulder as he addressed the group.“Alright, listen up,” Lux began, his voice steady but carrying enough edge to cut through the scattered murmurs.

  “The streets aren’t safe for this many people moving together, not in daylight. We split into two groups—smaller targets are harder to track. One will follow Luna. The other will follow me.”Luna stepped forward, tail flicking as her eyes swept over them, weighing each face. “If you can keep quiet, follow me. We’ll take the rooftops and back alleys—guards won’t see us unless they’re already looking.”Lux nodded. “The rest come with me. I’ll take the sewer runs near the old tannery. It’ll smell like hell, but nobody will be looking for you down there.”

  The rabbit girl stepped up beside Luna immediately, as if she’d already made her choice. Renn hesitated, glancing between her parents and Lux.

  “I… I want to go with you,” she said softly to him.

  Lux gave her a quick nod but didn’t argue. “Fine, but you stick close to me and do exactly as I say.”

  A couple of wolf men and the sheep woman with her infant moved toward Luna with half the 28 other women , trusting her quicker route. The fox couple and 2 wolfmen stayed with Lux and the other half of the 28 women, their grim expressions saying more than words.

  When the lines were drawn, Luna’s gaze found Lux’s again. “We meet at the old mill on the river’s south bend. If you’re not there by nightfall, I’ll come looking.”

  Lux smirked faintly. “Same goes for you.”

  The group split, Luna vanishing into an alley with her people like a shadow swallowed by the city, while Lux turned his group toward the stinking underbelly of Springvale.

  The groups were starting to split, Luna already leading her people toward the alley mouth, when Lux caught a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye.

  The pantherman.

  Slipping in behind Luna’s group like he belonged there.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” Lux growled.

  In two strides, he was on him—one hand clamping down hard on the back of the pantherman’s neck, the other bringing the knife’s edge just close enough for the man to feel the cold steel.

  “You’re coming with me,” Lux said low, voice like gravel. “You’ve got a habit of making trouble when my back’s turned. I’m not giving you another chance.”

  The pantherman stiffened, tail lashing in irritation, but Lux’s grip didn’t waver.Luna paused, turning just enough to see what was happening. Her golden eyes narrowed, but she didn’t say a word—just gave Lux the smallest nod of approval before leading her group away.

  Lux shoved the pantherman toward his side’s formation. “Congratulations,” he said with a cold smirk. “You’re going to spend the next few hours where I can keep an eye on you.”

  The rabbit girl muttered under her breath,

  “Good… keep that bastard close.”

  Lux didn’t reply. He just started moving, forcing the pantherman to keep pace as they headed for the sewers.

  The moment Luna’s group started moving, the rabbit girl hesitated, glancing between Lux and the narrow alley where the freed demi-humans disappeared. Then she jogged up to Luna’s side, her voice just loud enough for Lux to hear behind them.

  “Good luck, Lux!” she called, ears flicking back once in worry before she vanished with Luna into the crowd.

  Lux’s own group—two wolfmen, the goat man, the horned spear wielder, the fox couple, the sheep woman with her infant, and the injured avian boy and half of the ladies. Began their trek toward the sewer grate he’d spotted earlier. He kept the pantherman in front, his knife close enough to remind him who was in charge.

  The streets thinned out the closer they got to the old drainage run, the stink of stagnant water growing stronger. Lux crouched at the grate, prying it up with effort, the old iron groaning in protest. One by one, his group climbed down into the damp dark.

  When it was the pantherman’s turn, he descended slowly, glancing over his shoulder, calculating. Lux followed last, the grate scraping shut above them. The faint echo of water dripping down moss-slick stone filled the air.

  They hadn’t gone twenty steps when it happened.

  The pantherman suddenly spun, his body low and fast, lunging for Lux’s wrist. His claws raked for the knife, teeth bared. The impact slammed Lux into the wall, the cold splash of sewer water hitting his boots.

  Lux’s training kicked in before thought—he twisted his arm against the grip, yanking the pantherman forward into his knee, then shoving him back into the slimy stone with a grunt. The blade pressed up under the feline’s jaw before he could recover.

  “You just made the second biggest mistake of your life,” Lux hissed. “The first was thinking you’d get another shot.”

  The pantherman’s tail lashed once, defiant, but his hands stayed where Lux could see them.

  Lux didn’t look away as he addressed the group. “He stays in front. Anyone sees him twitch wrong—you shout, and I make sure he doesn’t walk out of here.”

  They moved again, slower this time, the sound of their footsteps echoing through the sewer’s dark veins.

  The tunnel stretched ahead in twisting shadows, the air damp and rank. Lux kept his knife within arm’s reach of the pantherman’s back, watching every flick of his ears, every twitch of his tail. The group moved in tense silence, boots splashing in shallow water.

  Halfway through the run, they came to a fork—one path leading deeper toward the old aqueduct, the other sloping upward toward a forgotten exit. Lux motioned for the pantherman to go right, toward the upward incline.

  That’s when the bastard struck.In a flash of movement, the pantherman spun—not at Lux this time, but at the injured avian boy and the sheep woman. His claws flashed, but instead of striking them, he hooked an arm around Renn, yanking her from the group before anyone could react.

  Her startled cry echoed through the sewer.“Lux!” she screamed, kicking and clawing, but the pantherman held her tight, his other hand gripping a hidden dagger he must have lifted from one of the guards earlier.

  “Back off,” he snarled, eyes wild. “You let me go, or this girl gets to watch her own blood spill before she hits the water.”

  The group froze. The goat man tightened his grip on his walking stick. The wolfmen tensed, ears flat.

  Lux took a slow step forward, knife still in hand, his voice low and dangerous. “You think using a kid makes you untouchable?”

  The pantherman pressed the blade closer to Renn’s throat. “I think you like playing hero, human. I walk, and she lives. That’s the trade.”

  Lux’s mind raced—too much distance for a direct lunge, too many bodies between them for a clean throw. The air was thick with the stench of mold and fear.

  “Your move, wanna be soldier boy,” the pantherman smirked.

  Lux’s grip tightened on his knife. He didn’t blink. Didn’t breathe. He just watched the angle of the pantherman’s arm, the set of his feet, the subtle shift of his weight.Then Renn whimpered—just enough to mask Lux’s sudden movement.

  He lunged.

  Steel flashed in the dim light, a blur of motion as Lux’s blade swept across the pantherman’s forearm. The man yowled in pain, Renn slipping from his grasp—but not before the edge of his dagger kissed her skin, leaving a thin crimson line across her shoulder.

  “Renn!” the her mother cried, pulling the girl into her arms.

  The pantherman staggered back, clutching his bleeding arm, but his eyes were still sharp with hate. Lux lunged again, aiming for the throat this time, but the bastard dropped into a low crouch, rolled through the shallow water, and bolted into the side tunnel.

  Lux started after him—only to stop when he heard Renn’s small, shaking voice.“I’m okay… I’m okay…”He turned, crouching in front of her. “Let me see.”

  The cut was shallow, more blood than damage, but Lux’s jaw clenched all the same. “He’s going to regret that.”

  Behind them, the wolfmen fanned out, watching the tunnel the pantherman had vanished into. The goat man muttered,

  “We should move. He’ll bring company.”

  Lux gave Renn’s uninjured shoulder a gentle squeeze, then stood, eyes narrowing down the dark passage.

  “Yeah,” he said, voice low. “Let’s go. But if I see him again, he’s not walking away.”

  The rest of the trek through the sewers was tense but uneventful. Every drip of water, every shifting echo made Lux’s group stiffen, expecting the pantherman to come lunging out of the shadows. But the only thing that followed them was the stink of the tunnels.

  When they finally found the rusted grate on the wall with a faint chalk slash, Lux pried it open and ushered the others through one by one. Cold morning air rushed in, and the damp darkness of the sewers gave way to the quiet of a wooded edge on the far outskirts of Springvale.

  It was only a short walk from there.Luna was waiting—arms crossed, eyes darting between faces as the group of twenty emerged from the trees. Relief flickered across her expression when she saw Renn among them.

  The small fox-eared woman—Renn’s mother—hurried forward to pull Luna aside, whispering something Lux couldn’t quite catch. The sheep woman with the infant settled near the firepit Luna had set up earlier, while the wolfmen took to patrolling the perimeter.

  No one mentioned the pantherman.They were here. Safe, for now.

  Luna’s gaze found Lux over the heads of the others. She didn’t smile, but there was a look there—acknowledgment, maybe even approval—that she didn’t give lightly.

  Lux let out the slow breath he’d been holding since the sewers. “We made it,” he said quietly, mostly to himself.

  Here’s how that scene would go.The camp settled into a low murmur—the crackle of firewood, the occasional bark of a wolfman scouting further out, the quiet sniffles of women who were only now letting the adrenaline drain away.

  Luna crossed the clearing without a word, her steps silent on the pine needles, until she was standing in front of Lux. Her tail flicked once—a small, controlled movement—but her eyes were locked on him with a sharp, assessing stare.

  “Walk with me,” she said simply.

  He followed her beyond the ring of light, into the cool shadow of the trees where the camp noises faded.

  She stopped, half-turned, and studied him for a long, deliberate moment. “You’ve been busy,” she said at last, her voice low but edged. “Too busy for someone who claimed they’d only been in Springvale a few days.”

  Lux met her gaze. “I told you I’d help.”

  “You told me a lot of things,” Luna countered, taking a step closer. “But you’ve also been holding back. You disappear, you come back with more people, and—” her eyes narrowed slightly—“you bring danger right to my doorstep.”

  He let out a short breath. “And if I hadn’t, Renn’s parents would still be chained in that camp. And the others would be in a wagon bound for gods-know-where.”

  Luna’s ears twitched. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t have done it. I’m saying you don’t get to run around in the city making enemies without telling allowing me in on what you’re planning.”

  Her gaze softened just a fraction, and she crossed her arms. “You’re not like the rest.

  That’s why I started watching you. But I can’t protect you—or work with you—if you keep your cards so close I can’t even see the edges.”

  Lux weighed his words carefully. “Then maybe it’s time we stop playing games and start working together. Full truth. Both ways.”

  Luna’s tail stilled. She studied him for another long beat before nodding once.

  “Fine. But you tell me everything. And I mean everything, Lux.”

  Here’s how that moment would play out:Lux smirked faintly, tilting his head just enough to catch the glint of moonlight in her eyes. “Started telling you already,” he said, voice light, almost teasing. “But it’s your turn now, princess.”

  The word hung in the air like a thrown knife.Luna’s ears flicked back instantly, her posture stiffening. Her tail froze mid-sway, and her gaze sharpened into something colder, more guarded.

  “Don’t call me that,” she said flatly. The tone wasn’t loud, but it had weight to it—enough to feel like a warning.

  Lux raised an eyebrow, the smirk still lingering, though it lost a shade of its playfulness.

  “Touchy.”

  Her jaw tightened. “Where I’m from, ‘princess’ isn’t a compliment. It’s a chain. One I don’t wear anymore.” She turned her head slightly, as if to dismiss the word, but her body language still carried the tension of a pulled bowstring.

  For a beat, neither of them spoke, the quiet between them pressing close.

  Lux’s grin softened into something less mocking, more measured. “Alright. No more ‘princess.’” He leaned forward just enough to bridge some of the space between them. “But I still want your story.”