The shadows lunged first. They moved like liquid darkness, sharp edges glinting with malice, surrounding me in an instant. My claws flexed automatically, my teeth bared in a snarl. Every fiber of my body screamed, bloodlust and desperation tangled in one fierce force. Elena’s name hammered in my mind. She is mine. She is alive. I will not lose her again.
Ezira’s eyes glimmered coldly from the other side of the chamber, calculating, confident. “You’re predictable, beast,” she hissed, her voice echoing unnaturally. “Always letting rage blind you.”
I growled low in my chest, a sound that made the very air tremble. Rage wasn’t just emotion it was instinct, and instinct demanded Elena. I lunged, tearing through the nearest shadow, claws shredding its form into mist that evaporated before it c
