“Unacceptable.” My molars ground together as I watched Seri chase Brumous toward the apple orchard. My mind rapidly calculated angles, distances, reaction times. Too far. If something happened, I might not reach her fast enough. “It’s not about devotion. Iknowhe’s devoted to her. Iknowhe loves her. But he weighs more than her now. One accidental swipe—”
“Is easier to survive than thinking the man you love despises your heart’s joy.”
The statement hit like a sledgehammer to my chest. I turned to face him fully, momentarily disregarding the tactical disadvantage of losing visual on Seri.
“I don’t despise him! That’s not what this is about.”
“Isn’t it? You track his every movement. Your heart rate spikes when he approaches her. You’ve measured those claws twice. I saw your notes.”
Had I been that transparent? I prided myself on control, on keeping my concerns properly compartmentalized. The realization that I’d failed so spectacularly produced an uncomfortable heat at the base of my skull.
“Seri notices, too,” he added, twisting the knife. “She thinks you hate Brumous because he’s impractical. A liability.”
“Heisa liability! Unpredictability isalwaysa liability. Emotional distraction compromises security priorities. And yes, I’ve measured his claws. I’ve also calculated bite force, maximum sprint speed, and territorial aggression factors. It’s called risk assessment.”
“And have you calculated what will happen if you make her choose between you and Brummy?”
A crack came from my left, and I swiveled, heart bursting, sure the wolf had snapped Seri’s neck. Instead, the stick Brumous had been chewing lay splintered in Zane’s hands.
“Shit. You two hear that?” He grinned, eyes dancing with more mischief than normal. “Oldest Cimmerian brother’s heart, snapped by a therapy wolf.”
“He’s not—”
Before I could continue explaining my logical concerns, Brumous let out a snarl, and all three of us turned as one. The sound sliced through the peaceful afternoon, primal and unmistakable. Not playful. Not warning. Pure threat.
The wolf knocked Seri down with stunning speed, and she landed with anoomph. In that moment, my mind processed two critical data points simultaneously: Brumous wasn’tattackingher. He wasshieldingher.
The dire wolf stood over our beloved in textbook guard position, his hackles raised to maximum elevation, eyes tracking something in the sky as a low growl rumbled through his chest.
For all my concerns about the dire wolf himself, I’d failed to factor in a much more fundamental equation: His own protective instincts. And in that moment of crystal clarity, as I watched him position himself between Seri and whatever danger approached, I realized the fatal flaw in all my calculations. I’d been treating Brumous as a variable rather than a constant. An unknown factor rather than an ally. And now that miscalculation might cost us everything.
My body was already in motion before my mind finished processing, years of training taking over as I sprinted toward Seri, calculating trajectories and angles of approach. My brothers flanked me, moving with the silent coordination that had kept us alive through countless missions.
Following the wolf’s line of sight even as I moved, I saw it, the unmistakable glint of silver talons and a hex sigil burning crimson on the hawk’s chest. Not a natural predator. A construct, a weapon. The raptor was mid-dive, headed straight for where Seri had been standing before Brumous tackled her.
If I had been rational in that moment, I might have acknowledged that the wolf had just saved her life, but rational thought had been replaced by a singular imperative: Protect beloved at all costs.
Intercepting the hawk’s path, my forearm blocked the strike meant for Seri’s throat, talons shredding my flesh instead of hers. The second the silver claws dug in, a curse seared through my veins, hungry and gouging.
Damnation!
As Brumous remained a furry barrier looming over Seri, her gray eyes wide with confusion, his snarls harmonized oddly with Zane’s enraged shout somewhere behind us. Meanwhile, the hawk construct wheeled overhead, shedding charmed feathers that hissed where they landed on the grass, leaving small smoking craters.
Secondary attack mechanism. Clever.
“Eyes up!” I called out, tracking the bird’s movements. “It’s circling around!”
The construct exploded in a burst of crimson and black as Koa’s knife found its heart. Feathers and arcane components rained down, and Zane raced to gather them all before Seri could see.
“Good target practice,” Ko smirked, hand still extended in throwing position.
His casual tone belied the deadly accuracy of the throw: A perfect heart strike on a moving target from twenty meters. I acknowledged the feat with a nod, then turned to Seri.
Brumous had stepped aside, allowing her to sit up, but remained close enough to intervene if needed. She clamored to her feet and stared at my arm, fingers probing the cuts with terrifying gentleness. Her touch sent conflicting signals through my nervous system: Pain from the curse, but something warmer where her skin met mine.
“I’ve never seen a hawk attack a person!” Her eyes were wide with concern. “You’re hurt!”
“It’s nothing.”
