Klaus’s POV
The team exchanged wary glances, the kind of silent language only wolves and warriors understood after too many nights staring death in the face together.
“Are you certain?” I asked Orion, my voice low but cutting through the whistling of the storm around us. “That will drain you. A strike like that takes more than heat—it takes your strength.”
Orion only shrugged, a small, almost reckless smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. “It’s efficient,” he said simply. “I haven’t used my gift for quite a time. This will work.”
There was no bravado in his tone, no hunger for glory. Just conviction. A dangerous, familiar conviction—the kind that left men hollow if they failed.
I studied him for a long moment, searching his eyes for doubt. There was none. Finally, I looked to Zi
