nor

oid filled with smoke, screams, and the phant

ed, pulled back into the jagged ed

piercing the night as Rogues breached the perimeter. I was huddled in the corner of the library, trembling, a wolfl

open. Not a Rog

n his presence was undeniable. He looked at us-at Ariel, bleeding and

a desperate, gut-wrenching longing. But duty was a steel chain around his neck. He g

pression on his face wasn't relief that his future

the inferno of the Alpha's Wing. T

ugh the haze of pain. Seven years ago, he save

ust abandoned me in the fire; he was correcting a mistake he had regretted f

I saw his back as he ran away with Ariel. The Alpha's Command stil

ino

but it was distorted, frantic, vibrating through a Mind-

nd away. Don't let him haunt you. He di

ong arms lifted me. A scent enveloped me-not the expensive cologne Adrian wore, but some

ice in my head

lie, can yo

It pulled me upward, dragging m

e room stinging my retinas. I wasn't in the charred remains of the A

the pack

broken rasp, my thro

and lined with worry. Tears welled in her eyes as she

eg. I gasped, falling back against the pillows. Memories of

me, the taste of ash returning

rom my forehead. Her touch was gentle, but her next words hit me harder t

lips. "Thank the Moon Goddess, Adrian was fast enough. He was

rld st

falter. I stared at my mother, trying to proc

n sav

I saw him run. I felt the Command lock

y eyes and the scent of the ancient forest... he wasn't A

ed, panic rising in my chest. "He left

ke inhalation... the doctor said you might be disoriented." She squeezed my hand tighter, as if trying to anchor m

against my ribs.

the man with the storm scent just a

gering static on my skin, a phantom warmth that had nothing to do with

was telling me the man who l

was going insane, or a lie had been spun so quickly a

" I asked, my

ftly. "He's exhausted, Elinor

ne he

aceful, sunlit trees. The disconnect between what I kne

n in the shadows? And if Adrian didn't