, Old Joren, barked from his seat by the hearth. His one
hed into a smirk. She respected Joren's skill but wasn't abou
bout, preparing charms and barricading their homes. But this year, an eerie tension hung in the air,
broke her c
the forge, his small frame trembling. His fac
e demanded, settin
e wolves. The
rled hands gripping his
near the old mill. They're bigger than normal wolves... and
quickly pushed it aside. "Stay he
"You've heard the stories. If it's
e snapped, already grabbing her newly forged
crunched against the frost-covered ground as she moved toward the edge of the village. The tree
ies of Ravenspire were full of such creatures, but she had always dismissed them as tales to
l broke th
eyes darted through the shadows, searching for movement. The
amber eyes emerged
t. The wolf stepped into the moonlight, its form massive and menacing. Its
oping her voice would mask
iberate and predatory. Elise swung her blade in a wide arc, but the cr
ment happen
bled, barely managing to twist out of the way. Pain seared through
ise
urned her head just in time to see her brother rac
screamed, but i
through Elise, drowning out the pain in her side. She scrambled to
emed to
elf between the wolf and Will, raising the blade in a des
ashing to the ground. Claws raked against her skin, and sh
rything w
-
into her bones, making her limbs heavy and unresponsive. Her vision
" a deep voi
stronger now, mingled with something musky and unfamiliar
s that seemed to glow faintly in the dim light. Hi
cked. She swallowed, try
he said
ped around her shoulder. The memory o
wol
," Kade interrupted. "Tha
at me," Elise muttered, her voice edge
ugh it wasn't quite a smi
, heavy with meaning Elis
demanded, her stomach churn
n," Kade said, his tone matter-of-fact.
efused to show fear. "I d
nd unnervingly graceful. "But whether you believe it or not doesn't matt
despite the protests of her b
use if you don't, the wolves won't just kill y
pine. For the first time, she realized she wasn't jus