The wind cut like knives, howling through the bare trees that lined the path to the mansion — a cursed fortress still stinking of blood and corruption. My paws pounded against the wet earth, the onyx fur of Sigvar gleaming under the waning moon, every stride a roar of fury pulsing in my chest. I had fled that hellish place with Serena’s broken body in my arms, her head limp, her neck shattered as though every vertebra had been crushed beneath a hammer. The image of Ethan — his amber eyes blazing as he tore the life from my mate, my second chance — burned in my mind like a hot iron. I couldn’t erase it. Couldn’t erase her — her cold skin against mine, her green eyes lifeless.
I had sworn to save her.
And I failed.
But I wouldn’t fail to destroy Ethan.
I ran toward the mansion, my blood
