I stood over him.

I felt it the primal pull.

The wolf’s instinct, ancient as the species itself, roaring inside me to end it.

To close my jaws around his throat. To finish this.

To prove, beyond doubt, that I was Alpha. That I was dominant. That I would never be threatened again.

The standing stones hummed.

The crowd held its breath.

The moon bore silent witness.

I shifted back into my human form.

Stood barefoot in the broken earth, silver-and-crimson light still fading from my skin.

Blood on my face.

My battle gear torn.

My mother's crescent moon necklace glinting at my throat.

I looked down at Cassian Veythorne....