. Her torturers were gone and she still quivered from the onslaught of their blows. Blood pulsed

us silver and she could feel the drowsy stirring of her sleeping wolf. She grimaced. Her jaw

llic scent of her blood, and the antiseptic smell of raw salt scattered all over every surface, the floor incl

us guard saying too much. That was probably why they had been too distracted to pay

herself up to a slightly sitting position. The movement jangled the sil

rist cuffs with one tug. She bared her now elongated canines and morphed into some sort of wolf-human hybrid, that being the closest she could come to shifting. Her wolf-like ears twitched, listeni

g of the packing house above her and slowly got to her feet. She knew this place like the back of her hands. If she cou

g to pinpoints of focus. Her whole body shook uncontrollably and she wondered what luck had made h

ight bulb, suddenly feeling as though the months of endless torture had never happened. Using this strange power came naturally to her. She didn't need to move, only focused on what she wanted. The door blasted outw

have his basement soundproofed. Adrienne had no doubt that the crash she had made would not be he

immediately reached out with her mind. Twisting tendrils of light shot out from her and seeped into his eyes, making them fall shut. He immediately fell with a thud, stone-cold knocked out. She stepped over him, not even blinking. Somehow, she wasn't herself, but she didn't feel possessed. This was a part of her that she'd never seen, never all

l over her skin and glowed in a bright but fading golden light. As her light faded, so did her sudden burst of strength. The passageway was long and now, she occasionally stum

supply finally out. Excruciating pain from he

inging in her ears resumed, temporarily impairing her hearing, which was why i

ere af

the sun and tore through the woods at an alarming pace for someone in her condition. She heard the sounds of pursuit getting louder

match for the pursuers, who were slow, were at least healthy, and she knew that. She had to leave the packed land, and fast. They wouldn't dare follow her uninvited

g. Finally, she ran past a line of trees and felt the lines that bound her to the pack cut loose. She was free. Not stopping to breathe, she continued her excruciating journey that was now no more than stumbling and sta

only saw his mouth move. She was falling. Her eyes remained open as she hit the ground, the harsh contact barely jarring her, so far gone she was.

el