ARIA
A deep crashing sound tore through the Blackwood Wilds. It wasn’t just noise. It felt heavy, violent, wrong. Trees were being ripped out and thrown aside like they weighed nothing. Each crash came closer than the last. My mouth went dry.
“This is taking too long,” I said, forcing the words out. “If I get caught halfway through a shift…”
I stopped. The rest didn’t need saying. Half-shift meant helpless. Helpless meant dead.
Behind me, Liora had already changed. Her wolf form stood low and tense, a growl rolling out of her throat. The sound wasn’t loud, but it carried warning. I stepped closer to the fire, heat brushing my legs, and stared ahead as the trees began to bend and split.
Something moved fast.
A wolf shot out of the darkness and slammed straight into the flames.
“Fen,
