Rain lashed the mountainside, turning the rocky path to slick mud as we stumbled away from the Rift. Lightning split the sky, illuminating the jagged peaks, and the wind howled, carrying her whisper—it’s just begun. My chest burned where the mark pulsed, a constant reminder of the shadow within me, the Veil’s lock I’d never asked to carry. The dagger, wrapped tightly at my hip, hummed faintly, its weight both anchor and threat. The bond with Lucian thrummed—his strength, my resolve, our shared defiance—but it couldn’t drown out the truth clawing at me: It wasn’t just pack. I was something else, something ancient, and it terrified me.
Lucian led, his blade sheathed but his hand never far from it, his silver eyes scanning the storm for threats. Blood crusted his arm, his wounds barely tende
