Mount Shasta rose before them like a promise carved from snow and stone. After thirty-two days of crushing darkness, the afternoon light felt like baptism—painful, glorious, overwhelming. They stumbled from the tunnel's mouth like newborns, blinking and gasping at air that didn't taste of sulfur and ancient secrets.
"Holy f**k, we actually made it." Elena's voice cracked on the words, the bear shifter's usual composure shattered by simple sunlight.
The volcano's base spread in alpine meadows dotted with wildflowers that had no business blooming this late in the season. But here, in this place where ley lines crossed and old magic pooled like groundwater, normal rules bent into prettier shapes.
Shadow-walker emerged behind them, the sabertooth's massive form somehow more terrifying in da
