DAMIEN
The scent of blood hung thick in the air as I sprinted through the forest, my senses flaring with urgency. The moonlight barely pierced the dense canopy above, but I didn’t need it to guide me. Valerie was in danger, and I could feel it like a knife twisting in my gut. The connection between us had always been strong, no matter how much I tried to bury it beneath layers of indifference.
My feet barely touched the ground as I closed in on the clearing where I knew she’d be. Kaia’s low growls reached my ears first, followed by the menacing laughter of the rogues. Three of them. I could smell their stench long before I saw them, a mix of sweat, decay, and something worse—fear. But not theirs. No, that fear belonged to Valerie.
I broke through the trees just as one of the rogues lun
