The battlefield stretched out like a graveyard of broken warriors and shattered pride. Smoke curled from the remnants of fire, and silence loomed heavy over the crimson-stained ground. My boots squelched against blood and mud as I took another hesitant step forward. Bodies lay strewn across the terrain—some armored, others barely clothed. My stomach twisted at the sight.
But he wasn’t there.
Luca.
I crouched beside a fallen soldier, his armor glinting with the Alpha’s crest, but his face wasn’t Luca’s. My breath hitched. The ache in my chest didn’t lessen. I tried not to feel it—tried to bury it deep beneath my purpose, beneath my revenge. But it clawed its way out regardless.
Behind me, the vampire knelt suddenly. Her fingers brushed over a scorched patch of grass smeared faintly with
