The sky breaks open above us.
It does not thunder or flash first. It simply tears. A long crack spreads across the clouds like someone carving through fabric. Light leaks through the split in colors I have never seen in this world, silver and violent purple and something that moves like smoke. The air trembles around us as if the entire clearing is holding its breath.
“Adam,” I whisper without meaning to.
He stiffens beside me, eyes tracking the widening tear. His wolf presses hard against his skin. I feel it push through him, tense and alert, ready to fight or ready to run. I do not know which would be safer.
The rift splits wider.
A hand appears first. Long fingers grip the edge of reality as if it is a doorframe. Then the creature pulls itself through. It is larger than the last ti
