Nymera's POV
Astra's blade flashed under the moonlight, slicing through the mist as she charged toward me.
I froze, the world narrowing to the glint of steel and the wild fury in her eyes.
Kaelith reacted first. He shoved me aside, throwing himself between us just as Astra lunged. The knife scraped across his arm, blood welling immediately, but he didn't flinch.
He caught her wrist mid-strike and twisted hard. Astra yelped in pain but didn't let go. Her other hand swung up, nails clawing for Kaelith's face.
He barely dodged, grabbing her and trying to pin her down, but Astra was fast—faster than I ever remembered. She ducked under his arm, slashing low.
I stumbled back, heart slamming against my ribs, useless, frozen.
Fight.
Move.
Do something.
The training grounds. The insults. The fists shoving me down.
The faces laughing.
Wolfless.
No.
Not anymore.
I snatched up a thick branch from the ground and gripped it tight, my knuckles whitening.
Kaelith and Astra were still locked in a deadly dance, snarling and circling each other like true wolves even in human skin.
I crept closer, the branch raised high.
Astra spotted me at the last second—but it was too late.
I swung with everything I had.
The branch cracked across her shoulder with a sickening thud. Astra cried out and staggered. Kaelith seized the opening, wrenching the dagger from her hand and tossing it into the trees.
For a breathless moment, none of us moved.
Then Astra laughed—a low, ugly sound that didn't belong in this forest.
"You think this ends here?" she hissed, cradling her arm. "You think you've won?"
"Get out," Kaelith growled. His voice was so raw it didn't sound human anymore. "Before I forget you were once my friend."
Astra's gaze flicked to me.
I met her stare, forcing my trembling legs to lock, refusing to show fear.
"You're dead, Nymera," Astra said, smiling sweetly. "You just don't know it yet."
Then she turned and melted into the mist, gone as suddenly as she'd appeared.
The woods swallowed her whole.
I sagged against a tree, my heart still racing so hard it hurt.
Kaelith knelt beside me, clutching his bleeding arm. His face was pale under the moonlight, but his eyes were fierce.
"You okay?" he asked, voice rough.
"I think so." I swallowed hard. "You?"
He nodded grimly, but I wasn't convinced.
"She's not working alone," Kaelith said, scanning the trees. "There's more coming."
Fear twisted in my gut. "Where can we go?"
He hesitated, then muttered, "The old Blacksmith's cabin. No one goes there anymore."
My father's forge. The place he'd loved, the place they'd burned to ashes after accusing us of betrayal.
I didn't have time to protest.
Kaelith helped me to my feet, and together we ran.
The ruins of the blacksmith's cabin loomed ahead, half-swallowed by weeds and ivy. Only the stone hearth still stood intact, a crumbling skeleton of what once was.
Kaelith led me inside what was left of the walls, breathing hard.
I crouched behind the old hearth, hugging my knees to my chest. Every branch that snapped outside made me flinch.
Kaelith paced like a caged animal, muscles taut, blood dripping steadily down his arm.
"You need to bandage that," I said quietly.
"No time." His voice was clipped. He kept glancing toward the woods like he expected Astra to come flying at us again.
A heavy silence stretched between us.
"You didn't have to help me," I whispered after a moment.
He stopped pacing and looked at me. Really looked.
"I did," he said.
I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes. "After everything—you chose Astra. You chose to believe her over me."
Kaelith's jaw tightened. "I know."
"Then why?" My voice cracked. "Why now?"
He crouched in front of me, close enough that I could see the bruises blooming under his skin.
"Because I was a fool," he said. His voice was low and fierce, like he hated himself more than anything. "I let pride blind me. I believed the lies I wanted to hear because facing the truth meant admitting I could lose you."
I stared at him, heart thudding painfully.
"Nymera," he said, and his hand hovered near mine but didn't touch. "I was wrong. About everything. And I don't expect you to forgive me. But I'm not letting them hurt you again."
I should have hated him. Should have spat in his face.
Instead, all I felt was a deep, aching sadness.
"You can't protect me from all of them," I said. "Not forever."
His mouth tightened. "I can try."
A sound in the woods—a snap, loud and deliberate.
Kaelith surged to his feet, dragging me up with him.
"Hide," he hissed. "Now."
I pressed myself into the shadows of the hearth as Kaelith stepped into the open, tense and ready.
The mist parted—and four wolves emerged.
Not shifters. Not human.
Full wolves, massive and snarling, teeth bared.
Enforcers.
Sent by the Elders.
My blood ran cold.
Kaelith didn't hesitate. He shifted mid-step, his bones snapping and reshaping, silver fur exploding across his body.
Even injured, his wolf form was breathtaking—huge, powerful, lethal.
He met the first enforcer with a roar, slamming into it hard enough to shake the ground.
I stayed frozen, too terrified to breathe.
The battle was savage. Fur and blood flew in the air. The wolves circled, snapping and lunging, and Kaelith fought like a demon, but he was outnumbered. Wounded.
I had to do something.
I have to help.
Frantically, I searched the rubble around me. My fingers closed around a shard of metal—part of my father's old forge. Rusted, jagged, sharp.
I crept forward, heart pounding.
One of the enforcers had Kaelith pinned. His massive jaws closed around Kaelith's shoulder, forcing him down.
Without thinking, I hurled the shard.
It struck the wolf in the side, not deep, but enough.
The wolf howled and stumbled back. Kaelith seized the moment, tearing free.
But it wasn't enough.
The biggest wolf—their leader—snarled and lunged straight for me.
I screamed, stumbling backward.
Kaelith was too far. He wouldn't make it in time.
The wolf's teeth gleamed inches from my throat.
Then—
A second wolf crashed into the enforcer, slamming it aside.
A black wolf. Sleek, fast, savage.
It snarled once, then shifted—and standing there, bare-chested, bloody, and furious, was Dain Marcus, Alpha of the MoonBlood Pack.
My breath caught in my chest.
What—?
Dain didn't even look at me. His entire focus was on the remaining enforcers.
"You picked the wrong girl to hunt," he said, voice like iron.
And then he launched himself into the fight.
I couldn't move.
Dain fought like he'd been born for this, faster and stronger than anyone I'd ever seen. Within seconds, two enforcers lay groaning in the dirt, broken and bleeding.
Kaelith, stunned, staggered to my side.
"We have to run," he panted. "Now."
"But—Dain—"
"He's buying us time!" Kaelith roared. "Move, Nymera!"
He dragged me toward the trees. Behind us, the clearing exploded with snarls and roars, the sound of flesh ripping, bones snapping.
Tears blurred my vision.
I didn't know who would survive this.
I didn't even know if I would.
We crashed into the trees—and right into a wall of black-cloaked figures blocking the path. Elders. Warriors.
Waiting for us.
And standing at the center, wearing a smug, triumphant smile—
Astra.
"Going somewhere?" she purred.