Isabella – POV
The scent of smoke woke me before the sound did.
It clung to the walls like a warning, crept beneath the door and curled its fingers around my throat. I blinked, slow and groggy, expecting Asher’s warmth beside me, his steady breath against the back of my neck.
But the bed was cold.
Empty.
And the air?
Too still.
Then the howling started.
Not wolves.
Not human.
Something in-between. Something wrong.
I shot up, heart pounding so hard it hurt. My fingers scrambled for the edge of the bed, and I forced myself upright even though my legs trembled. The walls around me shook. Not literally. Not yet. But something was shaking the world.
I stumbled toward the door and flung it open.
Red light spilled in like a flood.
Firelight. Chaos. And blood.
Down the hall, Mason’s voice rang out—sharp, furious, commanding. "Guard the inner gates! I want wards doubled. Do not let them breach that second line!"
“Asher,” I whispered, heart racing. “Where are you—?”
And then I heard it.
His roa
