legs could car
through the trees. I wasn't running, I was slicing everything in my way. But gosh,
howled in my head
TO BREAK US. NO
ace that ever sneered at me. Part of me wanted it. Bu
h reach the river!" Jax's voice c
barely eating as a servant had left me weak. I pushed anyway. My paws sli
it, the fi
went right through the wood like nothing. But when I landed on the other side? Everything spun. My wolf vanished. My
ng always falls apart. Al
I pulled out the wool jacket and the plain dress. The second the fabric touched me, bloo
s. Heavy on
ck to human right in front of me with that
g how small I felt again. The shadows tried to
h a jagged grin. "From monster to shivering rat," he moc
p from the ground, wrapped around his ankles like sna
e yelled, kicking
and ran. No wolf speed anymore, but I still had the
but the trees were closing in t
d rot, and something ancient and secret. I knew exactly what
line. Their torches looked like ang
nough to enter the Rogue Lan
oing. "The Rogues will do our job for us! They'll pic
as they turned back toward the pack house. Toward safet
but I forced them forward. Every shadow looked like it w
d and smelling of old rot. Jax's laughter faded be
heir own because the second I stopped, I was done for. And I
ook was still burn
omewhere behind the trees, but this forest didn't care. I
log. My side was screaming. Blood had soaked Lila's jacket completely, makin
close. Just
the second I let my guard down, th
as K
g. I could feel his massive deadly wolf cra
ing to kill the monster he'd rejected,
w. Panic clawing up my throat. He won't
ut my mate. Prayed every single night for someone who would see me, choose me, love
y and curled into a tight ball, hugging Lila's bundle to my chest like it
s were so heavy. My head pounded from the mate bond, t
is face-those storm-gray eyes full o
oice cracking. I hate you for doing this to me.
feverish, half-sleep, a new scent
arp blood-and-copper smell o
ingle. Cedarwood. Mountain wind. The smell of a wolf who didn't belong
her hunting p
eps, slow and deliberate, ri
nd turned everything pitch black. My
no air or
d so hard I thought it would crack my ribs. I prayed to a
Please don't
I wa
hand reached i
igging into dirt, but the
probabl
't come, but a rough, warm palm clamped over my lips. It s
w can that fe
ravelly voice whispere
used to have or the wors
d back at me. Intense. Burning. Not full of hate like Kairos's eyes but ful
d - darker, almost black - then cleare
ange sweet mist filled the air. My muscles went soft, my
arms sliding under me, lifti
d low against my ear. "The
world went co
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