LUCIEN’S POV
Rogues poured out of the tree line like a wave of shadows, wild and frothing at the mouth, snarling as if something had driven them past the point of sanity. The ground trembled under the weight of their charge. The air stank of blood and dirt and something…wrong.
I didn’t have time to think.
I shifted mid-stride, bones snapping and reshaping as my wolf burst forward. The moment my paws hit the earth, a rogue slammed into me. I caught it by the throat, flipped it, and tore into it before it could blink.
Blood sprayed across the dirt.
And the battle began.
We fought hard—every warrior, every guard, every wolf willing to stand between the palace and death.
They kept coming.
Rogues were never organized. They never fought with strategy. But these… these were different.
Th
