Lucian's POV:
I hadn't rested in hours.
Neither had my men, but none of us were stopping until we found her. Not until we had Tessa back.
The forest stretched endlessly ahead, thick with pine and damp earth. My wolf clawed at my skin, restless, frustrated. Shifting helped, but only for a while. I could hold the form for ten minutes, maybe less, before the pain forced me back. This damn curse, it tethered me too tightly to my human body. I’d once roamed for hours on four legs. Now, ten minutes was all I had.
I crouched beside a broken branch, sniffing the air. Nothing. No trace of her scent. Just moss and distant animals and the faintest hint of smoke from the village miles away. I rose to my feet, jaw tight.
“I should’ve found something by now,” I muttered.
Calen, the best of my men,
