(Catherine POV)
The forest exploded into violence around me with the sudden intensity of a thunderclap, transforming from peaceful morning woodland into something that belonged in nightmares rather than nature documentaries. Snarls echoed off ancient trees as shapes blurred past in movements too quick for human eyes to track—wolves emerging from shadows I hadn't noticed, forms shifting between human and beast with fluid grace that spoke of predators finally unleashed.
Kieran's pack had followed him. Of course they had. Whatever loyalty bound them together ran deeper than individual safety, stronger than the rational calculations that should have kept them safely behind castle walls while their alpha dealt with personal problems.
But this wasn't personal anymore, was it? The moment Murdo
