Xavier

We break through the tree line like a living storm.

The clearing explodes into my vision—firelight, bodies, snarls, the sharp crack of bone against bone—and my heart slams into my ribs so hard it hurts. For half a second, all I can see is chaos. Wolves in every shade of gray and brown clash with Lycan forms that tower over them, the ground torn to mud beneath clawed feet.

Then I see her.

“Tirianna.”

Relief hits first. Pure, blinding relief that she’s standing, that she’s alive.

Then the rage comes.

She’s on her knees, blood matting her hair, her face swollen and bruised beyond recognition, fighting like a cornered...