(Elijah) The air crackled with a tension thick enough to choke on. Yadieliz stood with the grace of a predator, her beautiful pink eyes blazing, facing Marcella, a witch steeped in shadow and malice. The clearing, once a serene haven in the heart of my pack, was now a battleground, churned and scarred by their initial skirmishes. "So, the mutt finally shows her teeth," Marcella hissed, her voice a rasping whisper that carried on the wind. She held her hands outstretched, the air around them shimmering with dark energy. "I expected a little more fight from the 'Queen.'" Marcella said, but Yadieliz was not looking to kill her. We already had a plan and we needed to distract Marcella, until Yadieliz's dad came. Irvin, the rogue we had tortured before and healed Yadieliz was next to me in