Valtira.
I couldn’t breathe. One moment I had been standing there, my heart pounding, the words barely leaving my mouth and the next, Zarek’s claws were already sinking into the man’s chest. Flesh tore, and blood spilled.
I froze where I stood. My heart lurched violently inside my chest. The world stopped.
The man collapsed limp, lifeless at Zarek’s feet.
And Zarek… Zarek just stood there, coldly and unmoved. His claws dripping red, his eyes burning with something wild and territorial and terrifying.
My breath caught, trapped somewhere deep in my throat.
I stared at him, and he stared back.
For a heartbeat, I wondered if he could hear my pulse pounding so hard it shook my bones.
Then the fury hit me.
It rushed up like fire, rising from my stomach to my chest, to my throat hot enou
