an's

lira stepped back. She turned to us. "The shadow saw us. And now... it wants in." Asher took a step forward. He asked her what the shadow wanted. Elira said only one word. "Bond." I looked down at my hands. The glow was gone. The bond was still broken. Elira said the shadow feeds on broken hearts, lost mates, and cold souls. It looks for wolves who don't feel love anymore. That's how it grows. That's how it sneaks in. And that's why the black ring worked. It was a door. And Silas opened it. Elira said the shadow is not done. It will try again. And this time, it will not come as a monster. It will come as a friend. Asher stepped close to me. His voice was quiet. "We have to find out who it is." I nodded. We had to look, listen, and wait. But we couldn't let the pack know yet. If the wrong one found out we were looking, they could hurt more people. I looked at Thorne. He sat on a stone with Kaya beside him. His face was pale. He still held the scroll. I asked if he could still read it. He nodded. He pointed to the bottom. There were more marks. Not just Fenric's. There were five more. Each mark was different. Each mark came from a different place. North. South. East. West. One from the center. Five shadows. Only one had stepped out of the crack. The others waited. Elira turned back into her tall form. Her long hair flowed like wind. Sh

The girl in the mirror looked just like me, but not. Her smile was wrong. It was too slow, too sharp. Her eyes were black like a cave with no end. I wanted to turn around, to call for Asher, but my voice stayed stuck in my throat. She stepped out from the glass. Her boots did not touch the ground, but she still moved like me. Her hands hung at her sides, calm and quiet. Her skin looked pale, too pale. The runes on her arms flickered, just like mine-but hers were dark and cracked, like broken glass. I took a step back. My heart thumped in my chest. My breath came fast and loud. She didn't speak. She didn't need to. I could feel her thoughts like they were mine. She wasn't a stranger. She was a shadow. A shadow made from me. Made from my anger. My pain. My broken bond. And now she wanted more. The wind pushed at my back like it was trying to warn me. The trees made no sound. Even the river felt still, even though the water moved fast. I raised my hand slowly. My fingers glowed a little. Just a small bit of light, weak and soft. The bond was still quiet, still hurt. But I had enough to make a spark. The shadow girl tilted her head. She copied me. My fingers glowed. So did hers. But her light was not warm. It was red. Like fire. Like hate. I felt something pull deep inside me, like she was reaching through my chest, trying to grab the last piece of

. A hand grabbed mine. Asher. He pulled me out. We both fell back onto the dirt, coughing and wet. He looked at me. "What happened?" he asked, breathing hard. I wanted to answer. But just befo