NIKOLAI

The stone of the castle battlement seemed to give under my feet as I sat hunched, unmoving in the night, allowing the bright yellow beams of my wolf’s eyes to roam over the quiet silhouette of trees.

“Where the hell are you Igor?” I growled under my breath, feeling my heart fluttering wildly in my chest as the case of a distant owl grated in my ears.

The man should have been back from his scout to the Burning City by now. What the hell was taking so long?

I could feel the whirl of the castle sleeping behind me, the loud snores of the Keep guards rising like...