The bond screamed.
Ember dropped to one knee before she even realized what was happening, breath ripping from her lungs as pain lanced across her chest and down her spine. The world tilted violently, sound rushing away as if she’d plunged underwater.
Maelis—
The thought barely formed before something else hit her.
A howl.
Not a pack howl.
Not Bloodstone.
It cut through the air sharp and wrong, carrying panic, rage, and hunger all tangled together.
Rogue.
“Contact!” someone shouted from the treeline.
Ember forced herself upright as adrenaline surged, Vespera roaring to the surface in an instant. The pain in her chest flared again—hot, erratic—but training took over, her body moving even as her instincts warred.
The forest exploded into chaos.
Three wolves burst from the trees fi
