Darius's POV
At the top of the stairs I first saw only movement: a long, elastic running stride, the blur of a wolf crossing the inner yard. Then the world slammed into focus, and for a moment it felt like someone had kicked the ground out from under me.
The last time I’d seen Sera in wolf form, her coat had been pitch black, her eyes deep violet.
Now the wolf that ran into the courtyard was white.
Not pale grey. White. A clean, sharp color that almost hurt the eyes, with a single narrow stripe of violet along her spine. Her eyes burned the same brutal purple as always, but her body was different too — broader through the shoulders, heavier in muscle, something older and stronger in the way she moved.
This wasn’t just the light. This was a change.
She shifted mid-run. Bones snapped b
