The dream returned with teeth.
Kade stood alone in the forest, mist curling around his feet like smoke from an unseen fire. The moon hung broken above the treetops—shards of silver falling like ash. He was shirtless, the mark on his chest glowing dimly, pulsing like a second heartbeat.
Something moved in the trees.
He turned slowly.
Aria stood just beyond the tree line. But her eyes—they weren’t hers.
They were golden, rimmed with shadow.
She raised her hand, and her voice echoed—not aloud, but inside him.
“Do you see me now?”
He opened his mouth, but no sound came. Only silence.
And then—claws.
Not hers.
His.
***
Kade jerked upright in bed, breathing hard. Sweat slicked his skin. His fists were clenched, nails halfway shifted—claw-tipped and bloodying his palms.
“Damn it,” h
