27. August

27

August

The scent was faint but undeniably familiar in the morning air, and I silently crept closer to the source.

It was her. I’d finally found her. Elisabed’s little sister—crouched behind a thicket of brush, her tiny frame partially obscured by shadows.

I stopped several feet away, watching her with the sharp gaze of a predator assessing prey. She was much smaller than I remembered, and her wide eyes darted around like a cornered rabbit. Her hair was disheveled, and her clothes were worn and patched.

When I stepped forward, her head snapped up, fear flashing in her eyes. “Don’t run,” I said, my voice low but firm.

She froze, her gaze locked on me.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded, keeping my tone measured.

She hesitated, clutching a small, frayed-at-the-edges satchel in her hands. “I—I’m looking for my sister,” she stammered.

I narrowed my eyes. “Why are you sneaking around? Do you know how dangerous it is out here?”

Her lips quivered, and she shook her head. “I had to find her. I didn’t know where else to go.”

Something in her tone—raw, desperate—made me pause. I’d been so focused on uncovering a threat that I hadn’t stopped to consider the fact that she was just a child.

I took a cautious step closer. “Your name is Mily, right?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I said. “It’s not safe.”

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I just want to see Elisabed. Is she okay?”

Before I could answer, a new scent cut through the air—sharp and acrid, laced with malice.

Raol .

“You’ve got some nerve,” he snarled, emerging from the brush nearby. “Stealing what’s mine and thinking I’d let you get away with it.”

“She was never yours,” I growled.

“The omega is mine,” he hissed, his teeth snapping dangerously close to my neck. “I’ll take her back. I’ll torture her for years for what she did to me.”

Raol shifted, and I immediately followed his lead, my wolf surging to the surface and taking over. He crashed into me like a battering ram in his wolf form, the force of the momentum sending us both sprawling to the ground.

Pain shot through my side as his claws raked across my ribs, but I twisted away. He lunged again, aiming for my throat. His claws sank into my shoulder, tearing through muscle, and I bit back a howl of pain. He used the leverage to throw me to the ground, his weight pinning me.

I couldn’t let him win. I couldn’t let him hurt Elisabed or her sister.

With a burst of strength at the thought of my omega, I swiped at his eyes and muzzle with my claws. Blood splattered the ground, the sharp scent fueling my fury, and I followed up by raking my claws across his chest, leaving deep gashes that oozed crimson. His howl of pain was satisfying, but it wasn’t enough. I drove my claws into his shoulder, and he howled again before shifting back to his human form and scrabbling away from me.

I shifted, too, and we both stood, panting. Raol was slower in his human form, and his injuries had caught up to him, but his eyes still burned with hatred. He wanted to destroy me.

I needed to finish him. I was preparing for my final attack when I heard familiar voices.