Her golden eyes flickered, a vivid red flashing through the irises.
Crack.
A scream tore through the throne room, raw and agonized, sharp enough to raise the hairs along Kaldrek’s arms. The sound of her pain was like claws raking across his heart.
“Move back!” he barked, throwingout an arm as he advanced.
Cillian’s face drained of color as he stumbled back, watching in horror as his sister twisted violently on the floor.
“She’s shifting,” Kaldrek snapped. “Move back!”
Evelyne’s body convulsed, her bones snapping and contorting in unnatural ways. Her screams deepened into something primal, something that no longer belonged to the human world, until where she had once knelt, a wolf stood.
A golden-brown coat gleamed under the crimson light of the blood moon. Her muscles were taut, her entire body coiled with wild, unspent energy. Her eyes, bright and burning red, locked onto them all.
A low snarl curled her lips, exposing fangs meant to tear and kill. Kaldrek’s pulse thundered in his ears. He could only think one thing.
Breathe, Evelyne. Please, breathe.
She snapped her head toward him, as if she had heard his voice.
He froze.Can you… hear me?He sent the thought out tentatively, barely daring to hope.
Kaldrek?
Her soft and frightened voice brushed against his mind, and Kaldrek nearly staggered from the force of his own relief. She could hear him, speak to him, mind to mind.
Yes, it’s me, sweetheart. You are all right. I need you to breathe through this.
Her ears twitched, a slight, instinctive movement that told him she was clinging to the thread between them. Fear trembled through her, but something in his voice must have steadied her, anchored her.
I know you are scared,he sent, keeping his tone calm.I know the transition was agony. But you have to trust me. You need to run it off.
He could feel her struggle through the bond, her muscles quivering under the strain of instincts she did not yet understand.
You have adrenaline burning through your veins,he explained.If you stay, it will take over. You have to move. You have to run before the panic hurts someone you love.
A low growl rumbled in her throat, raw and conflicted, her whole body shuddering as she teetered between fight and flight. Kaldrek’s heart hammered in his chest, but he never let the certainty in his mind falter. He would not lose her to fear. Not now. Not ever.
Run, Evelyne. Run.
Run!
With a sudden, explosive movement, she bolted. Her massive form streaked past the ruined throne room doors and disappeared into the night.
Kaldrek stood frozen, staring after her. His chest tightened at the sight of her wild, magnificent figure vanishing beneath the blood-soaked sky.
Then he turned sharply to the others. “Obren—take Alaric and Cillian back to the pack.”
Obren hesitated, glancing at the open doors Evelyne had just vanished through.
Kaldrek met his gaze, his tone like iron. “Go.”
Obren nodded, grabbing Alaric and helping a weak Cillian to his feet.
Kaldrek turned to Holden, voice dropping. “Take Ty—”
“I know.” Holden’s voice was firm, edged with grief. His jaw clenched as he moved toward Ty’s body. “I’ll bring him back to his mate.”
