Pain was not new to Maelis.
She had been raised on it—trained to accept it as correction, as consequence, as proof of loyalty. Pain meant you were still useful. Still alive.
But this—
This was different.
She screamed as the chains of magic snapped tight around her limbs, dragging her upright in the clearing she had been forced into long before nightfall. The earth beneath her was scorched black, old sigils carved deep into the soil—symbols that had drunk blood more times than she could count.
Her blood.
Her wolf thrashed beneath her skin, frantic and terrified, but there was nowhere to go. No room to surface. No strength left to fight.
You failed, the voice said calmly.
Maelis choked on a sob, head falling forward as her hair clung damply to her face. “I didn’t,” she whispered. “Sh
