Twigs cracked under my boots as I pushed through the last stretch of forest, lungs burning, heart stuttering like it didn’t know whether to run or collapse. The wards threaded through the canopy reacted before I even reached the treeline—thin silver runes pulsing in sync with my racing pulse.
They felt them.
Of course they did.
Dominance leaked through the air like smoke before a wildfire, thick and electric, brushing against my skin in warning. The closer I got, the heavier it pressed—four signatures tangled together, impossible to ignore.
Then I stepped out of the trees.
And there they were.
Callum. Jaxon. Rory. Seth.
Four shadows carved from storm, flame, chaos, and electric tension—waiting where the forest spilled into the Academy courtyard. They didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Didn’
