"Do not touch her."
Rowan’s voice cut through the chaos, commanding the guards to hold back the surging crowd. His tone was perfectly level, but I could hear the faint, erratic hitch in his breathing.
I was kneeling on the cold marble floor, my fingertips digging into the stone to anchor myself.
Deep inside my chest, something ancient and powerful stretched its limbs. It wasn't the violent, bloodthirsty roar of a warrior beast.
It was a soft, deep sigh. The feeling of coming home after a painfully long winter in the dark.
"The Healer Wolf..." the Priest gasped, dropping to his knees, his hands trembling in reverence. "She has truly awakened."
Dion dragged himself up from the base of the altar, the left side of his face smeared with his own blood. He stared at me, his chest heaving.
