The situation was as though time had stilled, piercing tension revolving around the wolves as it wrapped us in a cloud of anticipation. As soon as the female wolf informed something was wrong, Xerxes and Damien followed her. Even though I was tempted to reach before them, I approached the front of one of the houses behind the training grounds a little late. Augustus was behind me as a sharp breath hitched through him.

“She’s mine!” Growl reverberated through Avi’s chest as my chest thundered as my eyes landed on a small, petite barely calm girl–not a woman–a small girl wearing a pale pink knee-length dress and long sleeves that...