SCARLETT
The world narrowed to crimson light and the pounding of my heart.
Choose, the Devourer whispered again, its voice a black river through my mind. Come willingly, and the packs will live. Refuse, and they will bleed until the last howl dies.
My knees buckled, the mark on my shoulder searing so fiercely I tasted iron. Around me the battlefield blurred Kael’s firestorm, Darius’s lightning barrage, Lucien’s lashing shadows all folding into a swirl of smoke and scarlet moonlight.
I wanted to scream, but the air itself had turned to stone.
A roar cut through the haze. Kael burst from the smoke, copper eyes blazing. “Scarlett! Stay with me!”
His flames carved a path toward me, every step leaving molten earth in his wake. He reached for my arm just as a clawed shade lunged from the
