Ridah’s POV
The north gate was chaos.
Torches. Shouting. The smell of blood and smoke cutting through the cold night air.
Forsaken shifted beside me in a blur of muscle and claws, dropping into that low, lethal stance I’d only seen when he was about to kill.
“Stay behind me,” he growled.
I didn’t.
Two exile wolves broke through the barricade to our left. One lunged for a pack guard.
Light flared in my palm before I even thought about it.
The beam hit the exile mid-leap and sent him skidding back into the dirt, smoking. He didn’t get up.
Forsaken glanced at me, eyes flashing gold. “I said stay—”
“I heard you,” I said. “I’m not staying.”
Another exile came for me. This one was faster. Smarter. He feinted left, went right, claws aimed for my throat.
I didn’t have time t
