Ailm howls in my skull like she’s being torn in two.
And I know—before they even speak. Before the wave of mourning hits me like a storm through the bond. I know.
Every wolf around me lifts their head to the skies and howls in unison. It’s a sound of mourning, of agony. But mine is a scream. Raw. Uncontained. Ripped from a soul that no longer knows how to stay whole.
Caden knows.
He’s trying to soothe me through the bond, trying to wrap me in warmth, but I can’t feel it. I can’t feel anything except this fire that’s swallowing me alive.
Then someone says it.
An arrow. Straight to the heart.
Aspen.
No.
The grief is so brutal I choke on it, stumbling to my knees like I’ve been stabbed too. But the pain shifts. It sharpens. Hardens. Becomes rage—feral, all-consuming, nuclear.
I stan
