Silver light pours through the rift above the trees. It spills across the clearing in a slow, unnatural cascade, bright enough to sting my eyes. For a heartbeat I forget how to breathe. The light feels wrong. Cold. Ancient. As if it does not belong to the sky at all.
I jerk upright, lungs burning. My hands slam into the ground as I push myself to my knees. My eyes flash with panic and fury. I feel the shift inside me, the pressure of my wolf clawing upward again, answering the call of whatever is breaking through the sky.
Adam moves before I can call his name. He steps in front of me, shielding my body with his. His stance is protective and violent, every muscle tight, as if he expects something to strike from above in the next breath.
His wolf rises fast. The air heats around him. The
