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"Thanks, Holstein," Kotori says. "I was worried you'd judge me for not acting. The situation's not as simple as you think. Sonoma wants Tayla dead anyway—if she starts causing problems, I know for a fact that she'd mysteriously disappear. And you know what?"

"What?"

"Almost no one in this camp would care. Tayla's the enemy, Holstein. She tried to kill you when you were escaping the Nail. You've spoken to her a few times now so you know she's treating you differently because of your connection to Williams. Do you think she treats other werewolves with the same level of deference? The Tayla you're seeing isn't the same Tayla that other wolves get. It's a Jekyll and Hyde scenario."

"A what?" you ask, the reference lost on you.

"She's two-faced. You get special treatment because you're the son of her great leader."

You bite your lip, trying to make sense of it all. "That doesn't change the torture I witnessed," you say.

"No. No it doesn't. So what would you have us do about it?"

"We should go to the elders. They'll know what to do."

"It's possible that Sonoma doesn't really know about Maker's experiments. We should go to her, and if she won't shut it down we'll let everyone know."

"We can't trust anyone with this. Like you said, she's HSM. If we want to stop the torture, we have to let her go."

Next

"Are you out of your mind?" Kotori exclaims loud enough to be heard in the next room.

"Everything okay in there, Ko?" comes a voice from the back.

Kotori squirms uncomfortably. "It's all good, Jen! Just keep working on that server. If anyone can fix it, you can!" He turns back to you and lowers his voice. "That is completely out of the question! Sonoma knows I have the keys since I bring her meals! She'd know it was me!"

This is the only ethical move. I attempt to convince Kotori to help me break Tayla out.

Kotori is right. Maybe we should go to the elders about this.

I keep thinking that Sonoma might not know exactly what's going on. If Maker's out of control, Sonoma should be told.

Next

You debate with Kotori under your breath for almost ten minutes before reaching any agreement. In the end Kotori finally throws up his hands in defeat. "Fine," he says simply. "I don't want her to be tortured any more than you do. You have to know that. But you also need to know that this will be dangerous as hell. We'll need to make it look like she managed to escape by herself, otherwise I'm going to be suspect number one."

"How do you think we should do that?"

"There's a few possibilities," he says slowly. "We could make it look like she managed to pick the lock to her cell, or maybe force it open. The building is an old shed after all. I mean, the lock is new, but at least it's plausible. The only other thing I can think of is a little more uncomfortable."

"What is it?"

"I'm sure you've noticed that I'm not quite as spry as the other wolves, and I accept that. Everyone knows it and they're used to me dragging my ass around the camp."

"What does that have to do with—"

"She could give me a few good punches. Have her knock me on my ass and I could claim that I let my guard down when I was delivering her dinner. Sonoma would be pissed as hell, Maker too, but they already look down on me because I'm not a fighter. It would be believable."

"You sure you'd be up for something like that?"

Kotori's eye twitches unconsciously. "The thought doesn't exactly thrill me, no. But it could work."

We'll make it look like she picked the lock using a piece of wire from the shed.

Kotori's right—our best chance is to have Tayla hit him a few times to make the escape more plausible.

It's just an old shed—it's perfectly believable that tayla could force the cell door after being relatively unattended for so long.

Next

The crisp night air sends ripples through your fur as you crouch behind a massive oak tree with Tayla in tow. Her eyes dart back and forth furtively as you instruct her in the last few steps of her escape. You point to the north-east, down a slope toward a nearby stream. "Use the water to mask your scent," you whisper. "You're ripe enough that they'll be able to follow anyway, but that's your best bet. With luck you'll have at least eight hours' head start since most of the camp barely remembers you're there. Our main worry is if Maker comes visiting, but we can't control that. You'll have to be quick if you don't want to get recaptured."

Tayla shivers. "I knew you'd come through eventually. Williams's son would never leave me to die at the hands of that psychopath. Do you think the packleader will fall for it? It's pretty damn unlikely that I could have picked that lock with a bit of wire from inside my cell."

You shake your head. "We left just enough evidence for it to be plausible, and Sonoma will be kicking herself for not posting guards. She thought you were helpless, but now she'll know she was wrong."

"That sounds like a bonus to me," Tayla says, eyes gleaming with righteous anger. "I'd better get moving."

"Stay away from the old HSM base," you warn. "That's the first place we'd check, and none of your people will be there anymore. If I were you, I'd make a clean break now that you have a chance."

"I can't promise anything," Tayla says, and you can almost see her working through the possibilities. "But I do have some new perspective. You're not all bad. Even that pushover Kotori has his good side."

"I guess that's a step in the right direction. Now get moving before it's too late."

"Thank you," Tayla says. "If I meet up with my comrades, I'll let them know that you're as honorable as your father." She turns then, and sprints off into the woods on almost silent feet. You marvel at how fast she can move for someone who has been in captivity for so long. As a matter of fact, she'd been remarkably energetic ever since you came to free her. Could Maker's experiments have altered Tayla in some way? You shake your head and slip through the grass silently in the opposite direction. You'll probably never know.

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