The forest blurred around me.
I ran.
Every muscle burned, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.
I had to draw them away. I had to lead them far from Ava.
From my mate.
"Finally." Loki’s voice rumbled in my mind, filled with certainty and pride. "We finally found her."
I didn’t deny it. I couldn’t.
From the moment I saw her in that cabin, sleeping with her daughter beside her, I knew something had changed. I had changed.
But when Loki recognized her wolf, when he felt the connection I still didn’t fully understand, there was no doubt left.
"Years of waiting, of pointless mating gatherings," Loki growled. "And now that we finally have her, we’re running the other way."
"To protect her."
"We shouldn’t have left her."
My jaw tightened.
"If we don’t lead them away, they’ll kill her."
Lok
