eked of bloo
d the midnight sky. The air was thick with ash, screams, and the acrid scent of burning wood. Her o
barefoot and half-dreaming of the stars, of stories whispered among the she-wolves about fated mates
it was a
throat as the echoes bounced through the trees. She had run, faster than ever before, branches slas
tree, watching her ho
k as night, their movements ruthless and precise. She recognized none of them
Kael
him a tyrant with a cursed soul. Stories told of the blood he spilled, of his pack's
liance. Her father, the Beta,
is was their
over the roar of flames. Her throat tightened as a h
ldn't st
inting into the heart of the village. The heat of th
, and the door ripped from its hinges. Inside, it was eeril
r?" she cried,
t the soft crackling of f
wl lay abandoned on the floor, blood smeared across the fab
were
tless and furious. She dropped to her knees and screamed-a
me the f
sured. Draw
enched. Her heart pounded so lo
road-shouldered, his black armor glinting with firelight.
ha K
of allied packs years ago. He had been younger then, no
stood before her i
" he said, his voice l
idn't
oser. "You should
h coming fast. "Kill me
her. There was something strange in his
d sharply.
uriosity to disbelief. Then to
sess
under his breat
"What are you
ster. His hand shot out, grabbing her wrist. His skin bur
came t
't from
s from
, a magnetic force that made her legs we
revealing the soft curve of her neck. He st
he growled, more to
horror. "No. No, that's
give her ti
o him, mouth at
her veins. Her knees gave out, and the world tilted. Her bod
hen-no
-
ke, the worl
flickering above her. Stone wa
pri
Her fingers flew to her neck. The skin
tomach
led to her feet and grabb
creamed. "Cowards! B
choed beyond the stone co
st as she remembered-tall, powe
l Th
d rest," he
ainst the bars. "You b
e said. "Yo
rs. I will ne
. "That's not wha
n her chest, unlike any
oment, then turned away. "Yo
en he w
oor, shaking, tears
Her parents were dea
e than al
mate of the