My heart felt as if it would burst with every step.
The forest was dense and damp, the light mist drifting low over the ground.
My mother’s hand was tight in mine as we ran deeper into the woods.
I knew where the path led. If we kept east, it would bring us to the cliff where the wooden bridge stretched across. Beyond it, the slope dropped toward the lower edge of town.
From there, we could slip past and find our way out of Levian lands.
I didn’t know what lay after that. The thought of tomorrow, of the weeks or years ahead, was all a blur.
All I could think of now was to go anywhere that wasn’t here.
The forest was dark, the canopy swallowing the moonlight, but Leika’s presence sharpened my sight.
I could see the narrow way between roots and brambles, the pale shimr of the path through the mist. My mother stumbled more than once, her breath uneven, but she never let go of my hand.
We kept running until our lungs burned.
Branches scratched against my arms, and the hem of my dress caught on the undergrowth, tearing slightly. None of it mattered.
"Where would we go?" my mother asked at last, her voice strained, broken by gasps for air.
"Sowhere far," I managed, not slowing my pace.
The answer wasn’t enough, but it was all I had.
I rembered the stories I had overheard in the manor. How the neighboring Hestian pack was known for its warmth, how they welcod those who had no ho. Maybe that could be the place. A resting point, at least, until we found sothing better and permanent.
A sharp sound broke through the night. A howl, long and cutting.
Then another, and another, echoing over the trees.
My stomach dropped.
I knew those voices. They ca from our pack warriors. It ca from the estate, ringing out in signal.
"They’re going down to the town," I muttered. Another howl followed, carrying urgency. "They are ready for a war."
The sound chilled . The estate would be emptied of its guard, its warriors scattering through the streets below. It ant pursuit might not co right away, but it also ant fire and blood had swallowed more than just our lands.
Guilt worked at as we ran.
The kind that gnaws without teeth yet still manages to wound. The town was burning. People were shouting for water, for help. And I was taking advantage of the tragedy.
I told myself what I had told myself all day: live first. Think later.
The trees began to thin. A wash of silver light spilled between trunks and bracken.
We were close.
"Soone’s on our trail," Leika said.
The breath I’d been saving left in a thin sound.
The next gust carried the scent, sharp and iron-clean beneath smoke and damp earth.
Damn it.
Finn.
He was with his wolf.
I tightened my grip on my mother. "We keep moving."
A howl tore the quiet, not a call to gather but a line of fury thrown through the trees. Birds burst from a nearby spruce, black silhouettes scattering over the cliff.
My mother flinched.
"He’s close," she whispered.
The forest broke open at last, and the night poured over us.
I stumbled into the clearing, dragging my mother with , breath sawing in and out of my chest.
The cliff stretched wide before us, a ragged scar of stone cutting off the way forward.
For one blessed mont I thought we had made it, that freedom lay across that span.
Then I saw.
The bridge was gone.
Only ropes dangled from the posts, their ends frayed and swinging faintly with the night breeze. The planks that once connected the two cliffs had vanished, stripped away or burned.
Across the empty space, the other side glead pale beneath the moonlight, so close I could almost touch it, and yet impossible to reach.
My relief collapsed in on itself. My knees weakened.
"There’s no way..." My voice broke against the emptiness.
"Vien." Leika’s voice trembled inside . "He’s here."
The warning was unnecessary. I already felt him.
His scent threaded through the mist, familiar and ominous. A presence pressing against the back of my neck until I shivered.
And then it ca. A howl, deep and furious, split the night. The ground seed to carry it, vibrating under my feet. Birds burst from the nearby trees in a rush of wings, scattering into the dark sky.
My mother clutched my arm, her nails digging into my skin.
Then his voice slamd into , not through my ears but through my mind itself.
"Vivien."
It rang like iron against stone.
"You dare run? During the rite that binds you to ? During the fire that devours my land?"
My breath hitched. My heart pounded so loud I thought my ribs might crack. "Stay out of my head," I whispered.
"You opened it yourself when your wolf awakened. You cannot close out unless you are out of the lands I rule."
Beside , my mother tugged at , whispering frantically, "Vivien, we must turn back, there must be another way through—"
"There’s nowhere," I said. My eyes fixed on the broken ropes, the drop beneath them. "The bridge is gone. We’re trapped."
Branches tore open behind us, and he stepped into the clearing.
Finn in wolf form.
The sight of him stole my breath in fear. His shoulders seed broader than I rembered, his paws heavy enough to splinter branches beneath them. His eyes, gold and searing, were fixed on with such intensity that my body froze where I stood.
"Vivien," my mother whispered, pulling close.
She stepped forward. My lips parted, but no sound ca.
The wolf moved faster than sight. A blur of dark fur, a flash of fangs.
The sound was sharp and sickening.
"Mother!"
She crumpled to the ground, blood spreading across her pale shawl. Her eyes widened once, then dimd as she fell still.
"No—no!" I stumbled forward.
"This is the cost of betrayal." Finn’s voice lashed through , savage with rage.
I scread until my throat burned.
Leika’s howl answered inside , a storm of fury and grief, but even she was helpless.
The wolf turned his gaze back to . His muzzle was wet with blood. His eyes glowed brighter, unblinking.
"Run, if you dare." The words thundered through my skull, steady as a vow. "No distance will save you. No border will hold out."
Tears blinded , my legs trembling as if they might give way.
"Move, Vien," Leika urged, desperate now. "She gave her life for you. You must live."
I stood frozen at the cliff’s edge, my mother’s body cooling on the stone.
Amd Finn, his wolf form vast, dark, and rciless, was blocking every way back.
"You killed my mother," she whispered, disbelief cracking through every word. Her stomach churned, her fury rising like fire in her chest. "You are nothing but a ruthless scum!"
Her voice broke into a shout. "Go on then, kill ! I’d rather die than be anywhere you!"
Finn’s wolf eyes blazed, molten gold searing through the dark.
His muscles tensed, ready to strike, each step a threat as he began to edge closer.
Then a roar shattered the night.
It ca from across the cliff, so loud it seed to shake the stone beneath her feet.
Finn froze mid-step, his ears flattening, his gaze snapping toward the sound.
Vivien turned her head.
On the opposite side of the broken bridge stood five wolves.
In their center lood a massive beast, its fur black as raven feathers, its eyes burning red like embers in the dark.
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