The door slammed.
Silence for one heartbeat. Then war.
Steel on steel. Wolves howling. Magic cracking the air like lightning. The castle shook with every hit.
I stood in the room, one hand gripping the bedpost, the other holding Damien’s dagger. My side screamed. Blood soaked through the bandages. Each step was knives under my ribs.
“Stay,” he’d ordered.
I was done obeying orders that left me behind.
I limped to the door. Pushed it open.
Cold air hit my face. Snow and blood. The courtyard was chaotic.
Damien stood in the center. Alone. Surrounded by a circle of wolves. Fifty, maybe more. Three Alphas at the front. Iron Claw grinning with blood on his teeth. Frost Ridge with ice forming at his feet. North Pack with a spear of bone.
Damien wasn’t fighting them yet. He was waiting.
