LILA’S POV
The forest went silent.
Not the peaceful kind of silence that came with dawn or snowfall.
This silence was heavy… suffocating… like the entire world had paused to watch what would happen next.
Even the wind stopped moving.
The creature beside me growled low in its throat, its massive body tense as it stared into the darkness between the trees.
Marcus stepped closer to me, his sword still raised, his body forming a shield in front of mine.
“Stay behind me,” he said.
His voice was steady.
But I could hear the strain beneath it.
Callum shifted back into human form beside him, breathing hard from the earlier fight. His eyes remained fixed on the forest.
“That thing in the shadows…” he muttered. “It’s bigger than the last one.”
Davian’s expression was grim.
“And stronger
