The forest was still trembling from the collapse of Kieran’s forward base when the first howl split the night.
It wasn’t a wolf.
It wasn’t anything that should have existed in the living world.
The silver shimmer left over from the shattered wards twisted in the air, bending like molten glass around the tree line. Shadows began to slide out from between the trunks — not walking, not running — flowing, liquid and solid in the same heartbeat.
Zack’s POV
Storm surged in my head, hackles already up. Not retreating. Not even regrouping. They were waiting for this.
“Form on me!” I barked, my voice rolling over the battlefield with Alpha command. My wolves snapped into formation, fangs still dripping with the blood of our last kill, eyes wild from victory and adrenaline.
Then the smell hit
