cent

muscle tense. The air was laced with the tang of pine and smoke faint, but wrong. Her wolf stirred beneath her s

etween the towering trunks. Moonlight slipped through the canopy in cold slivers, not e

olo run before her trial into adulthood, a tradition among h

" she m

pain had dulled with time, no longer a scream but a familiar flame. When the transformation

, blood, and something darker. A shiver rippled through her f

nt grew stronger with each stride, guiding her into a narrow ravine tangled

bo

e belonged to a young man, no older than twenty. His chest was torn open, and his ribs spread li

d, but she recogn

she whispered.

racticed it now

e Hollowborn were outlaws exiled decades ago for their grotesque ri

y were, defiling

snapped b

art was pounding. Nothing moved, But she could smell i

ed her from

, larger and darker, collided with a tree and recovered instantly. It

f was faster, but she was smarter. She leapt over a fallen log, then turned sharply, launching herself onto a ridg

e above its eye. It yelped but kicked her off with brutal strengt

ed into the Hollowborn attacker, a

a

it, biting deep into its shoulder and the Hollowborn thrashed, snapping wi

ising from his skin as his body reformed, a tall, broad-shouldered, with scars trailing down his back lik

hurt,"

ne," sh

t, but he didn'

lowborn corpse, his jaw tight

and It led me here. I di

one

aware of the cold. "What was he doing here? The

oning so

harply, "You think

ade replied grimly. "We need to

er speaking. The wind picked up behind the

rfalls and illusion wards. Torches lined the stone corridor, flickering with soft blue f

d Maelen, Lira's grandmother and the clan's High Seer. Her white hair shimmer

ttacked," M

r head, "Yes,

er. One of the younger councilors stood, "That

s a blood rite and the sigils they wer

orn are testing our borders. This

ced before her. Then she spoke, with her voice

s like a stone dro

ovenant forged by the five founding clans to prevent to

ing to unravel it," Kade s

t find out how, And we

or this, always known the peace wouldn't last.

e continued, "And double the perimeter wa

said, "She needs to see w

tated, th

at she didn't need a chaperone. But deep down, she knew Maelen wasn'

the valley. The sky was clear, stars sharp against th

h when Kade appe

ld rest,"

she replied, "Too

her, "That's how it starts. The war I

e, haven't you? The way they move, The w

g time, Then softly, "

hy

time... they'l

eath c

le," he continued, "Your mother died protecti

said she died in an ambu

regret. "She made me swear to protect you, I've kept th

hed between th

"Then teach me h

t her, and

ilent for now, but the

hing ancient and wild, The Blood Pact was cracking, and the Holl

omorrow would bring, B

not face