her body simpl

s catching her paws, and still she doesn't stop, because stopping means thinking, and t

her lungs scream and her mind

er. She kill

ing anyway, no matter ho

ion, her wolf form trembling at the edges like it might give out. She doesn't know how long she's been running.

he forest floor rushes up,

back in that Hall with every eye on her. Then she blinks, and the ceiling above her is canvas, not stone, and the f

d instantly regrets it. Pain lan

oice is rough, not un

es from years of watching your own back. "You've been out the better p

omes out cracked, barel

ue L

r, she adds, "Past Blackthorn territory. Past the mountains they say guard it. You ra

oulders. Human again, she realizes now. Human and freezing an

with an expression Lyra can't quite read. "I'm Elara. And you, judging by th

hard. "What

st time at your age unless something's b

a coat that color - I've heard stories. Old ones. Didn't

eart starts pounding

nstead, feeds another piece of wood into the fire,

l you this much. Whatever you are, it's the kind of thing certain

hey already tried. They ki

be sympathy, though she doesn't let it linger. "Then I'

that time, something in her chest that's been clen

ire in her blood, or the whispers she still hears at the edge of slee

build a fire that won't smoke, how to read tracks in the dirt, how to

cond night, watching Lyra go rigid as the fire pops lo

ed about wolves like Omegas barely have one worth mentioning. Now mi

. "You've spent your whole life making yourself small so nobody notices you.

thinks about it long after Elara

ally. "Why help me? You don't know me.

k once too. A long time ago. Got cast out for a crime I didn't commit, and no

otherwise. "So when I find a wolf running scared through my territory, half-starved a

that happen

you are, Lyra Veyne, don't let them make you small again once you'

ose words tighter

morning, the

many, too coordinated to be anything but trouble. Elara's on he

fast. "Pack hunters, from the

" Lyra's stomac

matter ho

before she can raise a hand, sending her sprawling hard into the dirt. Lyra screams, more animal than human, and tries

f them and one of her, and within seconds she's pinned, wrists bound tight, dragged t

hases after her, raw wi

ure animal terror, thinking of Seraphine's cold, satisfied face, thinking this is it, th

m, a shadow drops

ive black wolf slamming into the lead hunter, jaws locking h

ra staggers back, wrists still bound, watching in stunned silence as the black wolf t

he last hunter falls, it's Kael standing there, ch

comes out barely

she met days ago is nowhere in his face. What's ther

er for injuries before he seems to catch himself, stopping just short of touching her

three days. I didn't kno

us, still not sure she trusts a word out of his mout

"I swear to you, I didn't know what Seraphine did. But I know now. And

sed to the cut above her eye, watching th

she says to Kael.

a

hy I don't particularly t

a as he says it, something fierce and steady settling into his

arring between the urge to run again and a strange, unfamiliar pull toward the man standing in front

lowly, "it's not because I forgive an

ng. "I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to le

yra nods,

ou lie to me, Kael Ardyn, I'm gone.

ost be relief passes ove

ook back - not at Elara, not at the bodies left behind in the dirt. She's too ti

mutter, low enough that the wind almost swallows it whole, "Three hunters. For one Omega." A paus