The world had become too sharp, too raw, every sensation amplified beyond endurance.
Reign crouched in the cave mouth, her newly awakened senses assaulted by a cacophony of input she couldn't filter. Every pine needle stood out in crystalline detail, every snowflake carried its own distinct scent, every heartbeat—hers, the direwolf's, even the field mice buried deep in their winter dens—thundered against her skull like hammer blows.
Her hands shook as she pressed them to her temples, trying to block out the sensory overload that came with her transformation. The frostfire in her veins burned hotter now, responding to her distress by sending jagged spikes of ice across the cave floor in uncontrolled bursts.
The direwolf padded closer, its massive presence somehow both comforting and thre
