t, staring into the night as the howls echoed ove

ing wa

thin

rising wind. Even the patrolling wolves below seemed ten

erself away f

just stand

t was coming, but reason held her back. She was no longer the na

il

outside wa

es Austin had left: soft black leggings, a fitted gray sweater,

d habits she hadn't broken even after years in hiding.

was eeri

airs barely reached up here, le

g old rhythms, old dangers. Her wolf pro

ked under her weig

w, urgent, angry. Beth paused at the e

a man was saying. "Five, maybe six

red, hard and clipped. "And

e blood and death." A pause. "Leader'

er, her heart th

gu

erm whispered with this

ou bring the Chadwick girl back, and suddenly

fli

r," Austin snarled. "Beth h

et for disaster. She should've stayed dea

orld

triding into the hall, the assembled wolves turning t

Carter's glare head-on. "If you have some

oom f

ened with fury, but

Beth's

eek-smirked coldly. "Fine. You're trouble. Always have been. Your fam

brushing against her skin like a living flame.

r said, voice oily with h

fury rising, but Austin

mmand lacing the word with raw po

oftening slightly. "We don't have

odded

trols. No one goes out alone. And if you see any

ds and murmure

ter, some casting Beth w

Marla, and Ca

walls she'd built around herself harden

deny it. "It

all these ye

rs travel. Some say the last Chadwick carries a

inked.

Legends. Myths. N

eaders. Not warriors. She had never felt anything speci

of power?

nough to tip the bal

stomach

for this. Hadn't

t matter wha

was hun

t stop until i

e balcony outside her room, the co

ndless sea of shadows, the moonlight pa

he railing beside her,

asleep," he s

look at him.

r long

he said softly. "If you want to

aw the truth in his face-the raw, painful willing

y was an

ears running, h

the past ha

quietly. "I'm t

witched in somet

bloodline power is real, I need to

alone," he said.

w what the futu

ng it alone. And that- maybe- was enough. Below, deep in the forest, a shadow

ushed past, carrying with it the faintest whisper of a scent she

Austin caught it too. His body stiffened, and he pushed away from the balcony railin

lcony doors behind them. He flicked the lock instinctively, though Beth knew tha

watched," h

rt hammering. "I

e chair and tossed her another.

e hated feeling like dead weight. But she also understood-Austin wasn't

couldn't af

gainst the hardwood, and Marla appeared, flanked by two enforcers-

a savage gleam in her eye.

d went cold

ed without humor. "An

owed hard.

darkened. "T

ike a shield. She didn't protest. Not when the air itself felt charged w

e compound-a holding cell built for emergencies. Beth had

and blood, and his wrists were raw from struggling against the silver cuffs. His dark hair hung in gre

es wer

t feral

s no soul lef

he rasped, his vo

ctively in front of

cracked lips. "He's coming for her. The

breath

dy vibrating with restrain

his head against the chair's metal frame with enough for

ard, but it was

onvulsed once. Twi

e

the rogue's words r

f and t

at mean?" Carter mutte

way. His jaw was tight, his

ice trembled. "The flame... it's part of the Cha

d at her, his eyes g

ted. "I-I d

s lying. That some part of her did kn

nd out," Marla

eaves without my word. Marla, start digging into anything about the Ch

h asked, lift

and firm. "You're going to train. E

gue, but the intensity in h

lpless, Beth. Not again,"

art tw

ag

he thought of the night her family had been slaughtered. The n

ustin w

ouldn't out

ll make sure she was

shoulders. "Then

crossed Austin's fa

stone walls of the compound, carryi

eth felt a spark ignite inside her chest-a

know what

he" was, or why h

in: She would not be an easy pre