The mark would not stop pulsing. Each beat came faster than the last. A sharp sting pushed through my palm with every step I took, bright enough to make my vision flicker at the edges. It felt like someone was dragging me forward by invisible threads, each tug stronger than the one before it.
Nathan kept pace beside me, silent except for the steady rhythm of his breathing. His wolf pressed against his skin, restless, uneasy. Leah ran a step behind us, her eyes already glowing from her magic. She whispered something under her breath, a spell to heighten her senses, but even that sounded nervous in the cold air.
Snow whipped past as we sprinted through the trees. The forest thinned. Cold crept into my bones in a way that did not belong to winter at all. Wrong kind of cold. Heavy. Ancient.
