Nadia’s POV:

I spun, gasping for air, but the dark shadow was faster. It lunged from Carl’s throat, aimed straight for my heart. "If I can't have it, I'll destroy your pups!" The voice shrieked in my skull, and I clutched my head as the world splintered.

Agony ripped through my gut like icy needles. My knees buckled. I hit the frozen ground, my claws digging into the dirt while darkness swallowed my sight. "No—not my babies," I wheezed, shielding my belly.

The priest’s soul poured into me, trying to drown my sanity and the tiny sparks of life within. My consciousness was yanked sideways, dragged into a mental void....