The forest was no longer quiet.
It was alive with movement — dark shapes slinking between the trees, eyes glowing like embers, growls vibrating in the earth itself.
Aria’s golden light pulsed wildly, her wolf restless and alert. Every instinct screamed at her to run, but she couldn’t move. Killian’s arm around her was the only thing keeping her steady.
“They’re coming,” she whispered.
Killian’s jaw tightened, Alpha power radiating off him like heat from a forge. “Then we hold the line.”
He turned to the pack. “Inside! Form the second perimeter! Darius — take the east side. No one breaks rank. No one runs.”
No one disobeyed. The wolves snapped into motion, forming a defensive ring around the clearing as they backed toward the house.
The first beast lunged from the shadows, a hulking
