The camp of the reddish gammas was a seething cauldron of controlled chaos, a nest of arrogant wolves celebrating their victory with guttural laughter and jugs of mead spilling onto the trampled earth. The air was thick with the stench of dried blood, tanned leather, campfire smoke, and the musky scent of sweating bodies. They had descended upon us like a relentless storm: a perfectly executed ambush. I know Ethan would have fought like a titan, his black wolf roaring as it tore through the gammas, but it would have been all in vain, and because of the blood magic that enveloped them, they were far more powerful than usual. I had resisted, Clarisa roaring inside me, her claws scratching at my mind, but the smartest thing was what she was about to do, even though we were now prisoners, and
