I did not sleep after the ring emptied.
I lay awake in the dark, staring at the ceiling, my body still buzzing from what I had done. My teeth ached. My jaw felt tight, like it had remembered something old and violent. Every time I closed my eyes, I still tasted Derek’s blood in my mouth.
Not fear. No regret.
Recognition.
That scared me more than anything.
When sleep finally came, it did not come gently.
I was standing in a forest that did not belong to any land I knew. The trees were enormous, their trunks pale as bone, their leaves silver and black. The moon hung low, too close, like it was watching instead of shining.
Wolves surrounded me.
Not pack wolves. Ancient ones.
Their bodies were massive, fur thick and matted with blood and time. Their eyes glowed like dying stars. They
