Kora’s POV
The howl tore through the forest, raw and sharp, shaking the ground beneath us. Mara’s eyes snapped to mine, her smirk gone, her face suddenly carved in stone.
“They’re here,” she whispered.
Another howl answered the first, closer this time. My chest tightened. They weren’t just near—they were surrounding us.
Mara grabbed my wrist. “We have to move. Now.”
We ran, branches clawing at our clothes, roots snatching at our feet. My lungs burned, my heart raced, and the ember inside me pulsed, restless, hungry. Each echoing howl was a reminder that Aaron’s men were closing in, that this wasn’t just practice anymore—this was survival.
By the time the compound’s walls came into sight, the woods behind us erupted with movement. Shapes flickered between the trees—wolves, massive and
