The forest pressedclose around us as we made our way toward the clearing, shadows dancing between ancient trees in patterns that made my eyes water if I looked too long. Mist clung low to the ground, turning familiar paths into something out of a fever dream.
The clearing opened before us like a wound in the forest, circular space where no trees grew and moonlight fell unobstructed. The wards shimmered faintly around the edges, visible as distortions in the air that made reality bend at strange angles.
But they were wrong. Broken. Torn like fabric that had been slashed by claws sharp enough to cut through magic itself.
Dad stood at the center with half the pack arranged in defensive positions around the perimeter. His eyes found mine the moment we stepped into the open, tracking from me to Nate with an expression I couldn't read.
“I told you to bring no one,” he said, voice carrying across the clearing with authority that made every wolf present sit up straighter.
“I didn't bring him,” I replied, moving to stand between Nate and whatever judgment was coming. “He brought himself.”
“The human stays back,” Dad commanded, but there was something in his tone that suggested he'd expected this, maybe even approved of it. “At the treeline. Out of the way.”
Before either of us could respond, shadows rippled at the edge of the clearing. My wolf stirred under my skin, hackles rising in primitive recognition of predators that didn't belong.
That's when the first shape broke through the torn wards.
Not wolves. Not anymore. They had been once, maybe, but madness had taken whatever humanity they'd possessed and twisted it into something hungry and broken and wrong.
Rogues. Wolves who'd lost themselves to their beasts so completely that nothing human remained. They moved with jerky coordination, foam flecking their jaws, eyes rolled back until only whites showed.
“Evan,” Nate breathed, camera coming up automatically before he caught himself and lowered it again.
My wolf exploded under my skin before conscious thought could interfere, bones snapping like kindling as instinct took over. The shift tore through me like wildfire, pain so intense it transcended sensation and became religious experience.
Fur burst across my skin in waves of black and silver, and my spine stretched until I was something that belonged innightmares rather than family photos. Claws erupted from my fingertips, fangs from my gums, and my jaw elongated into something designed for tearing throats.
The first rogue hit me like a freight train loaded with teeth and fury. We went down in a tangle of claws and snapping jaws, rolling across ground that had been sacred to my people for generations. Its breath reeked of rot and wild spaces where civilization couldn't reach.
Around us, the pack engaged with coordinated precision born of years of training. But these weren't ordinary rogues. These moved with purpose, with intelligence that spoke of leadership hidden in the shadows.
I threw the rogue off with strength that came from places deeper than muscle, watching it crash into one of the standing stones with a sound like breaking bells. But more were coming, flowing out of the forest like a tide of broken dreams and shattered minds.
That's when he stepped into the clearing.
The largest wolf I'd ever seen, scarred and massive, moving with calculated grace that belonged to apex predators who'd never known defeat. The other rogues parted like water before a ship, giving their leader room to work.
When he spoke, his voice echoed through the pack bond with authority that made my wolf want to bare its throat in submission.“The heir fights hard, but a crown takes more than claws. Your father's reign rots. Mine begins.”
I lunged without strategy or thought, letting rage drive me into collision with something twice my size and three times as experienced. We crashed together like thunder, the impact sending shockwaves through the clearing.
But he was stronger, older, practiced in dominance that came from breaking other wolves until they forgot how to resist. Heslammed me onto my back, massive paws pinning my shoulders to the ground while his jaws hovered inches from my throat.
“Your pack will kneel to me,”he snarled, voice carrying the weight of prophecy and promise.“Or burn.”
Around us, the battle raged. Pack wolves fought with desperate courage, but the rogues kept coming, their numbers seeming endless. I could hear snarls and howls, the wet sound of claws finding flesh, the crack of bones under pressure.
“Too weak to save even one human,”the biggest rogue taunted, pressure increasing on my chest until ribs creaked like old wood under strain.
That's when I heard Nate scream.
The sound cut through everything else, raw terror and pain that made my wolf surge against its bonds with fury that bordered on madness. I turned my head just enough to see a rogue bearing down on him, jaws open wide enough to snap his spine like kindling.
Everything else faded to background noise. The rogue pinning me, the battle raging around us, the taste of my own blood in my mouth. All that mattered was getting to Nate before those teeth found their mark.
But I was trapped, held down by something stronger and more experienced, and watching the person I loved about to die was worse than any physical pain I'd ever endured.
That's when the air split with light.
