Amelia stumbled through the underbrush, the copper tang of blood still ghosting her lips, her muscles torn between agony and exhilaration. Every breath dragged fire through her chest, but it wasn’t pain that kept her moving—it was purpose. For the first time in her life, she knew what she was. What she was becoming.
She was a weapon.
And Raze was forging her in the flames.
Behind her, the Alpha’s steps were silent, but his presence pressed against her skin like the weight of a blade at her throat. He didn’t offer comfort. He didn’t offer praise. Only the endless, punishing promise of more.
The woods thinned, revealing a clearing shrouded in low mist and moonlight. Stones circled the open space—smooth, black, ancient. A place of rituals, maybe graves. Amelia’s stomach twisted. The air h
