Awak
first thing
moon's light pressed down from above. She could taste metal, the sharp tang of blood on her tongue, an
o
sps, white in the cold night air, and the world shimmered, shifting from darkness into strange, piercing clarity. She co
haze, deep and raw, edged with something
oming under her skin as if something
t," she
u c
nlight, and for a moment, the world fell silent. Her pulse slowed, matching his, unt
e, the pain shattered, leaving
ped her mouth with the back of her hand, blinking away tears she didn't remember shed
ands, expecting claws, f
er hands. Shaking
do to me?" s
if it knew him, respected him, feared him. The other wolves, the shadows with glowi
" he said finally, hi
did
narrowed slightly, studying her. "It d
catching the moonlight, teeth glinting when they shifted. Some were so large the
she asked, her vo
bitter smile ghosting ac
inside her, an ache that she
're w
ched in front of her, bringing his fa
ead, backing away. "N
it all your life, haven't you? The hunger you couldn't explain, the rage you've tried to bury, the
She pressed her palm over the scar
ot a m
. "You're not. But you
mournful, echoing through the f
s across Elara's skin. She could feel it in her bones, a call, a co
g over his shoulde
ho
Ord
in the low conversations of elders when they thought she could not hear.
f people
us," Kael said, urgentl
tumbling back. "No. I c
afer if you
N
per, something painful. "They will kill you, Elara. They w
rest, sharp and human, cutti
heart
moth
her arm. "E
ast her, branches tearing at her skin as she pushe
age was
with buckets of water that steamed as it hit burning thatch. Shadows moved between the h
Or
er lungs. She saw her mother, trapped against the mud wal
lara sc
eir eyes met-cold, pit
swung the
omething bre
d explod
ones breaking, of claws tearing flesh, of screams that were not her own. Sh
er knees in the dirt, the man's lifeless bo
ide open, reflecting the fla
reaching out with shaki
f the villagers, the roar of fire, the s
heavy, grounding. She turned to him, ey
mean-" she
el said, voi
the howls rose again, closer now,
said, pulling her to he
can
hav
lifeless body, at the place that was once her hom
watched, cold and bright above them.And the last thing Elara heard be