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