Chapter 55: black bees

Cassian’s steps suddenly halted. Liliana immediately looked at him.

"Brother, what’s wrong?"

"Young Master Alpha, what happened?" one of the pack members asked.

Cassian lifted his gaze toward the path ahead. His eyes narrowed.

"We’re changing direction," Cassian ordered.

Liliana frowned but said nothing.

Before Cassian and the rest of the pack could turn around, a low humming sound reached everyone’s ears.

Their eyes widened in disbelief.

A swarm of black bees was flying straight toward them.

"Brother..." Liliana whispered, swallowing hard.

"Turn around! Use the full power of your legs and run as fast as you can!" Cassian commanded.

Cassian led the way, with Liliana right behind him. The rest of the pack followed close.

"Faster!" Cassian shouted as he glanced back at the swarm that was rapidly closing in.

Everyone nodded and pushed themselves harder, running even faster.

All of them—including Cassian and Liliana—shuddered at the sight of the bees pursuing them.

Ordinary bees would have been no problem. These, however, were jet-black and thousands of times larger than any bee in their world.

Each one was the size of a fully grown wolf.

"Brother! Which way should we go?" Liliana cried as the path ahead split into two.

Cassian exhaled sharply, his breathing already heavy. He sharpened his instincts for a moment, then nodded.

"Take the right path!" he ordered loudly.

Everyone nodded.

Their feet moved at breakneck speed. No one dared glance sideways or backward—every pair of eyes stayed locked on the road ahead.

They all knew that if even one of those bees caught them, death was certain.

Cassian’s mind raced. Their scents had been perfectly masked by the potion they had prepared earlier.

Nothing had been overlooked.

His gaze hardened. That left only one possibility.

The bees chasing them belonged to an extremely high-threat category—creatures with superior olfactory senses... or perhaps no sense of smell at all.

Cassian’s eyes scanned the surroundings, searching for a hiding place large enough for the entire pack.

His pace slowed slightly as the path ahead narrowed sharply, with a deep ravine dropping away on the right side.

He drew a deep breath and nodded.

"Keep close together. Don’t panic. We’ll go one by one. Those in front—don’t slow down even for a second," Cassian said firmly.

Faces showed varying degrees of fear, but everyone gritted their teeth and followed his order.

Cassian picked up speed again. Liliana stayed right behind him, and the striped tiger increased its pace as well.

Most of them were pale with terror—except for the dull gray wolf in the middle row, just behind Liliana.

She looked up at Liliana, a mocking smile curling her lips.

*Don’t blame me. This is what you get for daring to flirt with Cassian,* she thought to herself.

No one noticed Vera’s thoughts. They were all too busy fighting for their own survival as the bees drew closer.

The sky above them darkened slightly under the sheer number of bees.

With a sudden burst of speed, Vera sprinted forward and tried to slip in on Liliana’s left side.

Liliana furrowed her brow. She turned quickly, about to speak—

But Vera gave her no chance.

"Ugh!"

Liliana’s eyes flew wide in shock as both she and the striped tiger were shoved hard to the right.

"Ahhhhh!"

Liliana’s scream cut through the panic.

"Roarrrrr!"

The striped tiger let out a furious roar as Liliana tumbled from its back.

Liliana’s body rolled down the steep, pitch-black ravine on the right side of the path.

Cassian stopped dead and spun around.

Liliana was gone.

"Liliana!" he howled.

His eyes locked onto the striped tiger, half of its body still on the path, the other half already hanging over the edge.

Cassian shifted into human form in an instant and hauled the tiger back up.

He glared at Vera, who showed not a trace of guilt, then turned back to the dark ravine below.

"Liliana!" he shouted again.

He was about to leap after her. His body began shifting back into wolf form when he heard no reply from below.

The panicked pack members immediately pulled him away from the edge.

"Young Master Alpha!"

Cassian snarled at them, his expression ice-cold.

Far below, Liliana’s body finally reached the bottom. She forced her eyes open.

Everything around her was pitch black. She could see nothing.

She looked upward. A faint shaft of light filtered down from above.

Her hand reached up to her forehead. Sticky blood coated her fingers.

Liliana blinked hard. Her vision still swam. She couldn’t move her body at all.

Then Cassian’s desperate voice reached her ears.

"Liliana!"

She drew a deep, shaky breath and forced herself to swallow.

"Brother! I’m alive. Go first. Find a safe place and come back once you’ve gotten rid of those bees," she shouted with great effort.

Then her head dropped back against the ground.

Cassian growled low in his throat and still tried to go after her, until another pack member’s voice stopped him.

"Young Master Alpha. The bees are getting closer. Lead us to safety first. Liliana is still alive. We’ll come back for her once we’ve escaped the swarm."

"He’s right, Young Master Alpha," Beta Mano added, his voice full of desperate plea.

Cassian’s breathing was ragged. He looked at the terrified faces of his pack members begging him to lead them.

He clenched his teeth.

"Wait for me," he called out loudly.

Then he turned and sprinted down the path ahead.

The rest of the pack exhaled in relief, seeing that Cassian still cared enough to lead them. They quickly followed. The striped tiger ran just behind Cassian, with Vera right behind the tiger.

Her face remained expressionless, as if what she had done was completely justified.

Cassian didn’t dare slow down for even a second. The buzzing behind them grew louder and louder.

Half an hour passed, yet they still hadn’t found a suitable place to hide.

Then Cassian glanced to the left.

A stone house—or rather, a cave entrance—stood there.

His eyes narrowed. It looked large enough to shelter the entire pack.

He nodded. "Faster! There’s a stone cave up ahead!"

Everyone nodded and pushed harder.

"Crack!"

Cassian sprinted ahead, shifted into human form in a flash, and planted himself beside the cave entrance.

The moment the last pack member slipped inside, a deep rumbling sound came from outside.

Cassian whipped his head around.

"Help me close this stone door!"