The first wolf hit me from the side, jaws snapping for my throat. I shifted midair, claws meeting fur as we crashed into the ground. The clearing erupted into chaos—growls, snapping teeth, and the sound of bodies slamming into dirt.
Kieran didn't join the fight. He stood back, watching, that sharp smile never faltering.
Two more wolves came at me. I ripped through one, felt teeth rake across my shoulder from the other. Blood slicked my arm, but I didn't stop. Couldn't. If they brought Aria down, they wouldn't take her alive.
I turned—just in time to see her.
Aria wasn't fighting like any wolf should. Her glow had returned, brighter than before, her hands lit with thin ribbons of silver light. Each time she struck, the wolves around her staggered—not from her claws, but as though something inside them was being pulled out. The runes etched into her skin flickered faster, alive like veins of fire.
"Aria!" I barked, cutting through a wolf to reach her. "Control it!"
She spun toward me, her expression wild. Her eyes glowed so bright they almost drowned out her pupils. For a moment, I didn't see her at all—just the thing moving beneath her skin, using her voice.
"They won't stop," she said, her tone shaking but not hers. "So why should I?"
The ground beneath us cracked, silver lines spreading outward like roots. Kieran's wolves hesitated, their ears flattening as the hum in the air deepened. Even Kieran's smile faltered.
I grabbed her wrist, ignoring the searing burn where her glow met my skin. "Aria, listen to me. If you let it take over now, you won't come back. Not this time."
Her breathing hitched, her gaze flicking between me and the wolves closing in. The silver light surged, crawling higher up her arms, threatening to swallow her completely.
Then Kieran's voice cut through the tension, sharp and cold."Let her loose, Kael. Let's see which one of you she devours first."
Aria's jaw clenched. The glow spiked. The runes beneath our feet erupted in light.
And then—darkness.
Not from the glow vanishing, but from something else entirely. Shadows spilled from the treeline, swallowing the clearing, snuffing out the moonlight.
A new scent hit me—sharp, unfamiliar, dangerous.
Another pack. And they weren't here for negotiations.