The retreat from Blackpine Ridge was a blur of blood, moonlight, and desperate howls.
Kai Thorn carried Elara Voss in his arms as if she weighed nothing, his powerful legs eating up the distance down the ridge with grim determination. Her body was limp against his chest, her breathing shallow and uneven. The silver light that usually glowed around her had dimmed to a faint, flickering ember. The heart of the silent moon had gone quiet after its monumental surge — but the cost had been devastating.
Kai’s heart hammered against his ribs, fear and fury twisting together into a storm that threatened to consume him. Through the mate bond, he could still feel her — faint, but present. A fragile thread of silver light connecting them. He poured every ounce of his alpha strength into that bond,
