We stand there breathing each other in, the bond humming between us warm and solid. He slides fingers into my hair, tilting my head back so he can kiss me. This kiss is different from the others—slower, deeper, layered with every fear and hope and desperate need we've been carrying.
When we break apart, we're both shaking.
"We should go back," I say. "Before they send a search party."
"In a minute." He pulls me close, wrapping his arms around me like he can shield me from everything coming. "Just let me hold you for a minute."
So we stand there in the abandoned ranger cabin holding each other while the sun drops lower toward the horizon. While the ley lines hum beneath our feet. While shadow creatures gather in the dark.
Finally, Jonah releases me. Takes my hand. "Ready?"
"No. But let's do it anyway."
We walk back toward the compound together, fingers laced, bond singing between us. The stone circle comes into viewthrough the trees, torches burning bright against the gathering dusk.
Then we hear the screaming.
Jonah breaks into a run, pulling me with him. We burst into the clearing and chaos greets us.
Shadow creatures everywhere. Not the scattered, confused things I've seen before. These move with purpose, with coordination, flowing around the compound like a living tide.
But they're not attacking randomly.
They're hunting.
Calder stands in the center of the stone circle, arms raised, energy crackling around him as he works to contain the creatures. Eli and Beau fight back-to-back, shifting between human and bear forms with fluid grace. Sawyer has shifted fully, a massive grizzly swatting shadow creatures away from the cottages. Cilla, Anabeth, and Quinn fight in their bear forms, protecting the perimeter with coordinated strikes.
The creatures keep coming.
And they're all moving toward the same target. Toward me and Jonah.
"They're not random," Jonah says, voice tight. "They're organized. Tactical."
One of the larger creatures breaks from the pack, moving faster than the others. Its eyes glow violet-bright, fixed on us with predatory focus.
"They're hunting for something specific," I breathe.
The creature lunges.
Jonah shifts in a swirl of silvery mist, his massive bear form placing itself between me and the threat. His roar shakes the trees.
The shadow creature doesn't retreat.
It watches. Calculates. And behind it, dozens more emerge from the forest.
All of them moving toward us.
CHAPTER 8
JONAH
The shadows want to open the door wider. Over my dead body.
I surge forward in bear form, massive paws tearing through shadow creatures that reform almost as fast as I destroy them. They're stronger than before. More organized. More dangerous. And they're all pushing in one direction—north, toward the main convergence point where the tear between realms bleeds corruption into our world.
Not happening.
A shadow creature lunges at my throat. I catch it mid-air, jaws closing on substance that feels like cold smoke wrapped around bone. My teeth pass through but find purchase on something deeper, something vital. The creature shrieks—a sound like tearing metal—and dissipates into nothing.
