They came from three sides at once, low shapes breaking from the dark with a speed that gave Amara no time to think, only react.
“Behind me,” Damian ordered, already shifting his stance, claws lengthening in the half second before the first one hit the clearing.
She didn’t listen. Not fully. She’d spent all day learning not to freeze, and freezing now felt like giving something back she’d only just earned.
The first rogue lunged for her, and instinct took over before fear could. She swung the branch hard into its side, felt the impact jar up through her wrists, and staggered back as it snarled and circled instead of retreating.
“Amara!” Damian’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp enough to sting.
She sidestepped the next lunge, exactly the way he’d drilled into her that afternoon, and
