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