I froze, pulse roaring. Spinning around, I came face-to-face with a hulking male in his forties. He stood easily a head tallerthan me, built like a bear, with shoulders broad enough to blot out the forest behind him. Thin scars, silver and old, ran the length of his arms like faded rivers.
“Brynn Brighton.” He bowed his head ever so slightly, the gesture strangely elegant for someone who looked carved from stone. “I am Godric, and I have come at the request of my alpha, Kaelric Morvain. He would like me to accompany you to meet him in Loroc.”
My breath hitched.
Kaelric wanted me?
The man’s formality threw me off. His tone was deep, steady, and precise. I’d never met him, but the sword at his waist and the harsh lines carved into his knuckles told a story of war and survival.
And then…
I felt Kaelric.
For the first time in months, our connection flared open as if a door had been wrenched wide. I hadn’t realized how starved I’d been for that tether, how much I’d missed the quiet hum of him. Feeling Kaelric inside my chest again stole the air from my lungs.
‘Brynn… I need you. Bring the sword. Godric will protect you until you can get to me.’
I need you.
Three words I never thought I’d hear again.
Three words I had craved more than breath.
‘I’m coming,’I told him without hesitation.
My reluctant logic, my stubborn pride, all of it evaporated in an instant. Months of Valkaryn whispering at me to find him had done nothing. But the moment it was Kaelric’s voice… I shattered.
There was an urgency in him. No, desperation.
“I need to say goodbye to my family,” I told Godric, my voice steadier than I felt.
He nodded once and followed me toward the house, stopping respectfully on the porch. Mira opened the door as my hand reached for it. Her eyes landed on Godric, and she paled, fingers tightening around the wood.
“Is everything okay?” she asked. Wolfkin soldiers didn’t often stand on our porch.
“It’s… fine,” Godric answered when I did not, though the slight pause before the word made it feel anything but.
“Kaelric needs me. I’m taking Valkaryn,” I told her.
She nodded quickly, ushering me inside while Godric remained outside like a pensive mountain.
When we reached my room, she exhaled sharply.
“Do you know who that is?” She motioned toward the porch as I rummaged for my bag. My fingers closed around Valkaryn’s hilt, where she lay at the bottom of the trunk. I drew her free and sheathed her at my hip. A sharp spark of power shot up my arm, needful, eager, like she’d been suffocating in that dark space.
“Godric?” I asked.
She nodded. “We learned about him in wolfkin history. When King Morvain was killed, and nearly all his heirs, Kaelric was too young to take over. Godric was interim leader until Kaelric came of age. He’s Kaelric’s second-in-command.”
Whoa.
“He definitely looks like he’s seen battle. Are you sure?”
Mira nodded and crossed the small space until she stood directly in front of me. “I’ve seen his picture in the history books. You don’t understand, Brynn. Kaelric sent the most powerful wolfkin in Fenmyr to protect you. Second only to himself.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks.
“So?” I shrugged, trying to keep my face neutral.
