Aveline
Deep within the bowels of the Black Fang chapel, the world was ending in a symphony of grinding stone and ancient, agonized magic. Ezra had vanished into the shadows of the collapsing vault, leaving the silver dagger buried in Matteo’s side. The Alpha’s blood—thick, dark, and smelling of ozone—poured over the obsidian altar, fueling a ritual that was never meant to be completed.
I lunged forward, the silver cuffs on my wrists snapping as the sheer force of my Guardian pulse finally shattered the metal. I didn't go for the door. I went for him.
"Matteo!" I choked out, catching him as his knees buckled.
He fell against me, his massive frame a dead weight that nearly sent us both into the black sludge rising from the floor. I guided him down to the base of the pedestal, my hands f
