I ran until the moon dipped below the horizon, swallowed by the jagged peaks of the western mountains.
The intoxicating euphoria of the Lycan transformation propelled me through the ancient, towering pines at speeds that blurred the world into streaks of shadow and moonlight. The wind was a symphony in my ears, carrying the scents of a world I was finally free to explore. But the power was borrowed. It was a violent eruption fueled by a broken seal, not a sustained energy.
As the adrenaline began to fade, the catastrophic toll of the night's events caught up with my body.
I had been starved, beaten, drained of my heartblood, and I had physically ripped my own soul-tether from my flesh. The blinding silver aura that surrounded me began to flicker like a dying candle. My massive, digitigr
