“Hold the line!” he shouts.
Our eyes meet. For one heartbeat, the world goes silent.
Nyx surges, full this time. My bones crack, skin stretches as I drop to all fours. The shift tears through me—pain and ecstasy in one motion. When I rise, silver fur gleams in the sun, dust swirling around my paws.
‘Feral,’ Nyx whispers. ‘Let even evil fear us.’
I launch at the nearest blotch, jaws snapping, claws ripping. Sparks blaze where my silver fur hits the black smoke. Another shadow wraps around Finn; I tear at it, but it splits again, burning my muzzle, my hands, my heart.
“Finn, run!” Rowan’s voice thunders.
The boy stumbles toward the fence, but another shadow coils for him. I spin, growling, claws slashing—but I’m too slow. Pain tears through me as fire sears my arms.
Then Rowan is there. He moves like a storm. Sword arcs, and the shadows part, shrieking, retreating into nothing. One sweepclears Finn entirely, Rowan’s arm shielding him as if he were treasure.
When silence finally falls, only the wind stirs the sand over the scorched traces of smoke.
Finn trembles, clutching his chest. I force myself back into human form, gasping, blood and soot streaking my neck. My knees hit the sand beside him. Rowan pulls out his cloak and wraps it around my shoulder, covering my bare body. I clutch it tight around me, not caring about anything but my child.
“It’s all right, love. You’re safe. Mama’s here.”
Rowan crouches opposite me, hand on Finn’s back, applying pressure to the bruise the shadows had left. His forest green eyes flick to mine. “Shadows conjured using witchcraft.”
“I know.” I swallow hard. His rogues remain beyond the boundary stones, heads bowed and hands sheathed.
Boots thunder from the main gate. Kade and his guards storm the yard, their swords drawn.
“What in the Goddess’s name—” His voice breaks when he sees Finn, wounded but breathing. Relief and rage knot in his eyes. Jax is beside him, his eyes widened in shock.
Kade reaches us—then stops when he sees my state. His eyes flare with disbelief when he sees who is standing beside me.
The Rogue King’s shadow falls long across the ground.
“Kade,” I manage, voice hoarse. “They came for Finn.”
Rowan rises, expression unreadable. “I tracked them from the northern ridge of the valley. Phantoms, shadows. We intercepted what we could.”
Kade’s grip tightens on his sword. “You broke border law.”
“I upheld it,” Rowan says, cold steel in his tone. “Not one of mine crossed until your heir bled. Your border stood, Kade. But your soldiers did not. The shadows burned through them—every last one—before I even arrived.”
I gasp in horror.
Fury and disbelief crack across Kade’s face. Emris strains, scent clashing with Rowan’s in the air.
“You expect me to thank you?” he demands.
Rowan’s lips curve faintly. “No. I expect you to keep your son alive.”
Jax shifts, prepared to defend his Alpha at command, his jaw clenched just as tight.
Finn whimpers. That sound ends the argument. Brin’s apprentices rush to carry him to the infirmary. I follow, but Rowan’s hand brushes my arm over the cloak—a fleeting touch, gone before Kade can react.
“Watch your borders, Freya,” he murmurs.
Then he turns, whistles once, and his rogues melt back into the forest like smoke.
Silence settles. Kade exhales slowly, fury draining to exhaustion. He looks at me—then toward where Rowan disappeared. “He saved our son,” he says, voice rough.
