Aya's POV
The world narrowed to heat and sound and the way Johanis’s grip tightened around my wrist just before he let go.
I barely had time to register the shift—the split second where his gaze swept the chaos, counting bodies, exits, witnesses—before the air broke when he was sure there was none. The bond snapped sharp and blinding as he wolfed out between one heartbeat and the next, fur rippling over skin in a violent surge of power, his body expanding, reforming, choosing instinct over restraint.
The fire lunged. It struck him instead of me.
Red-black flames slammed into his side with a wet, horrible hiss, and the scream that tore out of my throat didn’t sound human. The smell hit a moment later—burned fur, scorched ozone, magic gone rancid. My legs gave out and I would’ve hit the
