ARIA POV
I crashed through the trees, my lungs burning. The howls behind me were getting closer.
"Keep moving," I whispered to myself, holding the map Lucien had given me. It was marked with blood now—my blood—from the cut on my palm where I'd grabbed a thorny branch to pull myself up a steep hill.
My father's words still echoed in my head. War was coming. Tonight. But I couldn't trust him. I'd run away instead, and now strange wolves were chasing me.
They weren't from Darius's pack. Their smell was different—wilder, older somehow. Part of the Forgotten Packs, maybe?
A growl came from my right. Too close. I spun around just as a huge gray wolf lunged at me from between two trees.
I didn't have time to think. My body moved on its own. I dropped to the ground, feeling the wolf fly over me. My hands hit the dirt, claws extending from my fingers.
Wait—claws?
My wolf was right there, just under my skin, giving me her power. I didn't need to fully shift to use it.
