pulled back just enough to look at him. My voice was small. “There is something else. Something I have not told you.”
His brows furrowed. “What?”
I took a shaky breath. “I can… heal things. Or I used to. Back in Silverfang. I would touch a wound, an animal, a plant, and pull the damage out. Give back something whole. But when Drake grabbed me that day… it went wrong. The power flipped. Instead of giving, it took. I ripped his essence out of him. His wolf. His life force. He just… collapsed. Empty. And it is still inside me. This hot, angry thing that keeps twisting. I am scared it will happen again. To you. To anyone.”
Alaric went still. His hands stayed on my arms, but his grip tightened for a second, then loosened. He did not pull away. He just looked at me, eyes searching my face.
“
