That night, Arianna dreamed of running.

In the dream, she was whole—her wolf fully present, fully hers. They raced through a moonlit forest, wind in their fur, the earth soft beneath their paws. Behind them, another wolf ran—massive and dark, with amber eyes that gleamed like fire.

Duncan's wolf.

They weren't fleeing from him. They were running with him, matching his pace, two predators moving in perfect synchronization. The dream was so vivid that when Arianna woke in Duncan's enormous bed, she could still smell pine and earth, could still feel the phantom sensation of four legs instead of two.

*Soon,* came Lily's whisper, clearer than it had been since...