The sound of the gates closing behind us seemed insignificant compared to the threat looming at the edge. Every breath was flavored with wet earth and the metallic promise of more blood, and the night weighed down the trees like wool. Under the torchlight, the crescent in the soil pulsed softly, a heartbeat that belonged to something that wasn't really ours.
My wrist was always in Thorn's grasp. He used a cautious grip that was both soft enough to prevent bruises and firm enough to maintain balance. I felt both refuge and command in its grasp. With their eyes sliding over me like knives and then away, the pack loomed around us in a ring of muscle and suspicion. The air tasted of their fear.
With anxious lines etched on his face, Kalen waited. "The tracks lead deeper," he reported in a cl
