LOGINThey stood there staring at each other across the corridor and neither of them said anything for a long moment.The silence felt awkward because they’d both come looking for the other and now neither knew what to say first.Joefrey’s eyes dropped to her hands.The gold glow was gone and the marks had settled back into dark lines against her skin. They looked like tattoos burned permanently into her body, black instead of gold now but still visible. He could see they’d spread farther than before, covering her palms and fingers and disappearing beneath the sleeves of her tunic where more marks crawled up her arms.Lyralei noticed him looking and tried to act like it was nothing. She crossed her arms loosely and leaned against the wall with what she hoped looked casual.“Do they hurt?” Joefrey asked.“No,” she said automatically.He raised an eyebrow and his expression made it clear he didn’t believe her for a second.Lyralei sighed. “Fine. They ache. Like a bruise that won’t fade. Happ
Lyralei heard the warriors before she saw them.Boots hitting stone and the scrape of weapons being drawn echoed across the hilltop. Voices shouted commands that carried on the wind. She looked up from where she was kneeling with the boy's arms wrapped around her neck and saw figures cresting the ridge.At least thirty of them, maybe more. Shadowfang warriors with weapons drawn and eyes scanning for threats.They stopped when they reached the ritual ground.Nessa was in front with her blade drawn and her expression cold until her eyes found Joefrey. Something in her face shifted when she saw he was alive. Then her gaze swept across the scene and Lyralei watched her take it all in. Black stains scarred the stone where shadow wolves had dissolved. Broken bodies from the ritual lay scattered near the stones. Blood filled the cracks in the rock and reflected the moonlight.The corrupted Alpha's corpse lay face-down near the center with black veins still crawling across his dead skin like
The wolves lunged through the flickering gold light.Lyralei's mind was still reeling from the look in the boy's eyes and the shield didn't come back strong. The light stuttered and wavered like a candle flame in the wind. A gap opened on the left side wide enough for a wolf to push through.One did.It charged straight for the boy with its jaws open and void eyes locked on his throat.The boy froze.Lyralei moved.She threw herself sideways and slammed into the wolf mid-charge. The impact knocked the air from her lungs and sent pain shooting through her ribs. The wolf's jaws snapped shut on her shoulder instead of the boy's neck. Teeth punched through her tunic and into her flesh.Crunch.She screamed and grabbed the wolf's head with both hands. Her fingers dug into its skull and she felt bone crack under her grip. The wolf released her shoulder and she shoved it away hard enough that it stumbled backward into the gold light. The barrier burned it and it yelped before dissolving.Blo
The shadow wolf lunged toward the boy.Lyralei's body moved before her brain caught up. She threw herself forward and grabbed the kid's shoulders. Her hands yanked him backward hard enough that his head snapped back. The wolf's jaws closed on empty air where his throat had been a heartbeat earlier.Crunch.Joefrey's claws punched through the wolf's skull from above. Black blood sprayed across the stone and the creature dissolved before it could turn for another attack.They were still surrounded.Lyralei pulled the boy behind her and pressed his back against a boulder. He was shaking so badly his teeth were chattering. His breathing came in short gasps that sounded like he was choking.Joefrey stood in front of them and killed another wolf that tried to dart in from the left. His claws drove through its chest and found the heart. The wolf dissolved. Another one came from the right. He caught it mid-leap and crushed its skull with one hand.The shadow wolves kept coming.They pressed i
Joefrey stood frozen for one second that felt like an eternity.The boy was screaming, the corrupted Alpha was laughing, and shadow wolves were closing in from all sides, but Joefrey's mind was locked on the mistake he'd just made.He'd had a clean chance to kill the corrupted Alpha, one perfect opening where the bastard's guard was down, and he'd chosen Lyralei instead.That one emotional choice had given the enemy the boy again.Lyralei saw the guilt hit him, saw it crash over his face like a physical blow, and she realized this wasn't just about the boy anymore, this was about Joefrey's whole identity as the Alpha who always made the correct tactical move, who never let emotion cloud his judgment."Joefrey," she said sharply, trying to cut through whatever spiral he was falling into.But he was still staring at where the corrupted Alpha now held the boy, his jaw clenched so tight she could see the muscle jumping beneath his skin.The shadow wolves were twenty feet away now, then fi
The shadow wolves rushed them.Joefrey moved first and pulled Lyralei backward into a narrow rocky path that cut between two massive boulders. The passage was barely wide enough for two people to stand side by side, which meant the wolves couldn't surround them properly.They came anyway.The first wolf lunged through the gap and Joefrey's claws drove straight through its chest. He felt the heart rupture around his fingers before he ripped his hand back. Black blood sprayed across the rocks. The wolf dissolved before its body hit the ground.Another charged through. Lyralei drove her sharpened stake through its eye socket and the tip punched out the back of its skull. It collapsed mid-stride.The narrow path forced the wolves to come at them one or two at a time instead of swarming all at once. Joefrey used that advantage and turned the bottleneck into a killing floor. He shifted to half-form and his body stretched taller with claws that could punch through stone. Every strike targete
Lyralei walked away from everyone and her emotions were suddenly a mess after her outburst. For some reason she felt shaken after challenging that stupid Elder and she couldn't for the life of her understand why the pack let him get away with assaulting little children. And why someone like Gerald
She’d taken their measure in that first exchange and Tove was definitely the weakest, Maren was rash and aggressive attacking with emotion instead of strategy, but Kessa was the real threat.The blonde hadn’t committed to her initial attack and she’d held back, testing, watching to see how Lyralei
Lyralei cursed under her breath as she stared at the dark-furred wolves circling her. They were bigger than normal wolves, not massive but large enough that their shoulders came up to her waist. Their eyes glowed amber in the shadows of the trees, watching her with that patient predator stillness t
Lyralei stared at Gerald’s departing form, fighting the urge to smirk. Since he’d arrived, he’d barely looked at her. Probably not comfortable with losing to someone he’d underestimated. Serves him the fuck right. Eliasen appeared beside her, arms crossed. Her red eyes studied Lyralei’s face wit







