Lorraine's POV
"Elise?" My voice cracked, panicking as I dragged myself across the dirt to where she lay. Blood soaked her brown hair, seeping into the earth beneath her. My hands shook violently as I reached out to her, brushing strands of hair from her face. "Elise, please....wake up. Come on. Elise!"
Her chest rose barely, shallow. Then, slowly, so slowly, her eyelids fluttered.
I exhaled hard, the relief crashing over me like a wave. "Thank the moon," I whispered.
Her eyes didn't focus, her lips moved but made no sound. But she was alive. For now.
Behind me, I heard groans, Felix and Adrian, both beaten and bloodied, struggling to sit up. Adrian's face was smeared with dirt and blood, his lip split open. Felix was clutching his ribs, blinking through a haze of pain. We were all wrecked.
And yet Varya and the two other lycans were still standing, untouched. Powerful. Smug.
