I walk away. Past the perimeter wall’s edge. Past the last of the red beacons that mark Aurora’s safe zone.
Into the wild.
The forest swallows me whole. Trees tower overhead, their branches heavy with snow. The air smells clean and sharp—pine sap and frozen earth and the promise of violence.
My wolf stirs. Eager. Ready.
Seventy-two hours. That’s how long I have before he arrives under protection. Seventy-two hours to find him. To finish what should have been done all those years ago.
I move north, following instinct and training. The convoy would avoid main roads. Would stick to secondary routes with multiple escape options. Would prioritize speed over everything else because they know the Syndicate is hunting them.
They won’t know about me, though. Unless Kael and Mara warn them.
Somehow, I think they won’t. And Viktor probably thinks I don’t have it in me. He’d be wrong.
My senses sharpen with every step. Even in human form, I can taste the air, read the forest, track by more than sight alone.
Hours pass. The moon rises higher. The temperature drops until my breath comes in white clouds.
My wolf snarls inside me. A sound that rumbles up from my chest.
She’s done waiting. Done planning. Done with human caution and strategic thinking.
She’s waited too long while I investigated and tracked and built cases. Holding her back, telling her to wait, promising that justice would come.
Justice didn’t come.
So now she’ll make it herself.
The shift hits me before I can resist. My bones crack and reshape. My spine curves. My muscles tear and reform. Fur erupts across my skin in waves of silver and black.
I try to hold on. Try to maintain control. But she’s stronger tonight. Angrier. More desperate.
And maybe I don’t want to fight her anymore.
Maybe this is exactly what needs to happen.
The transformation completes in seconds. My clothes tear and fall away. Everything human drops away until there’s nothing left but wolf.
I lift my muzzle to the sky.
And I howl.
The sound echoes through the forest—rage and grief and promise all tangled together. A declaration. A warning.
I’m coming.
My wolf knows what I need. What we both need.
Not justice. Not closure.
Revenge.
And she’s finally free to take it.
Chapter 2
Nadia
