heel into the wound, eliciting a raw scream from me. Wit

n," he whispered into my ear, his breat

air rushed from my lungs, and I spat blo

isgust, kicking me away like discarded tra

You should know by now, even though you're half-wolf, half-demon, you still amount to nothi

ain insignificant!" His words were like dagg

onfirmation of my deepest fears. I couldn't even save my mom.

scaped my lips as a single te

he chants reverberated through th

ong, jagged arms burst forth, ripping through his clothing. A hulking, hairy figure took shape, impossibly large-a grotesque parody of a

tation as he slammed me down repeatedly. I could feel the sickening crunch of bone, the tearing of muscle. I was powerless, a mere

f my life force-then gripped me

al, crushing blow. A sharp, agoni

y heart, leaving me broke

pproval, their adulati

Thorn ordered, his eyes

asp. He swallowed it in a single gulp, the li

on a strange, echoing quality, "she's part of me now. I've ta

screech tore from his throat, a sound that

" I managed, each word a painful st

scension," Th

olf and something... else. Spines erupted from his back, leathery wings

ination. The spines... the wings... How could I have forgotten?

lled my mom, and now you even sacrificed this innocent

somethin

howled within, desperate to break free, to be unleashed, to be embraced. My demon echoed th

d, leaving no trace. My eyes burned with a pure, whit

ad haunted me gone, replaced by th

that night, Thorn," I said, my voice no longer my own, but

d from my body, engulfing the entire arena, ecl

this time with

es wide with awe as they t

ted n

u, Thorn," I commanded, my voice echoin

my imposing aura, snarl

ple that reverberated through the entire area. Trees swayed v

aughter echoed, tinged with a

NE

unmoved. Not even a s

inched, but his pride wouldn't allow him to back down. He heaved

o fragments upon impac

WO

voice a searing

tion, he charged,

em to curl and break against my skin. He shriek

HR

voice cold a

my silver claws, now darkened

die o

lessly into the sky, away from

d to his pack, their answering bellows f

ught in a trap-but escape was a crue

?" he choked out, his voice a ragge

low, "these powers are mine. Unlike you

and unwavering, bore

d, my grip tightening,

earing motion, I

contorting into a mask of pure, excruciating pain

s either," I continued,

under my fingers, and with a shar

that now streamed down his face, painting

on the p

mmeted, a broken, falling thing, his head impacti

e. A flicker of surprise, almost disappoint

ommand laced with a pri

elf down, landing with bone-jarrin

was beyond anything but raw, silent suffering. Blood

elentless barrage of punches. Each blow was a hammer strike

raining from him

p, his broken body dang

id, my voice low and dan

touched his b

of h-e-r for

flicker of hesitation, I s

, the snap of bone,

ipping onto the rocks below, before dropping his broken,

ungry beast eager to

y hand, the weight o

! "I muttered,

chillingly intimate confession, "Hopefully