I woke up to the warmth of the sun filtering through the trees, the light casting golden rays over the forest floor. My body was still pressed against Ryder’s, his heartbeat steady beneath me, but the peace I felt was fragile, like it would shatter any second. The realization hit me like a punch to the gut. We’d stayed out here all night, lost in each other and the bond between us, but we couldn’t linger in this moment. Not now.
The trials.
I sat up suddenly, the sunlight blinding me for a moment before I shook Ryder awake. “Ryder, we have to go. Now.”
He blinked awake, his face still relaxed from sleep before a sharpness returned to his eyes as he remembered. Without another word, we both scrambled to our feet, the urgency pulsing through us. As we shifted into our wolf forms, the cool
