KaelThe metallic taste of blood lingered on my tongue as the last rogue fell limp beneath my claws. The clearing was silent again, save for the sound of my breathing—ragged, furious, alive.Then I saw her.Elara knelt in the grass, blood trailing down from her temple, her hair tangled, her eyes wide with shock. The sight of it—of her hurt, of her bleeding because I hadn’t been here—snapped the last of my control.I shifted, bones cracking, fur receding as I took my human form. The shift barely registered; I was already moving toward her.“Elara,” I rasped, my voice raw.Her gaze lifted to meet mine, glassy and trembling. “Kael…”I dropped to my knees beside her, hands already reaching for her face. The blood wasn’t much, but seeing it—seeing that someone had dared to touch her—made something primal inside me roar.“Who did this?” I growled, scanning the treeline as though I could drag Garrick himself out by the throat.She flinched at the sound, and it gutted me. I forced my voice lo
Last Updated : 2025-10-13 Read more