Page 91 of A Sunwoven Ascent

“Stop,” Evelyne said quickly. “You do not know what you are doing.”

Kaldrek raised his hands higher. The ground split between them with a violent crack, and a low growl rolled from his throat as his fangs descended.

He was losing control.

“Enough!” Evelyne shouted.

But he did not stop. He only stared at her with empty, distant eyes as the land obeyed him. More soil lifted. More stone tore free.

How was he doing this?

Evelyne stepped toward him, ready to leap across the widening crack—when the ground shifted again. Dark, blood-veined roots forced their way up through the soil, twisting and spreading like something dead clawing free from a grave.

“Kaldrek! Stop!” she screamed.

Panic surged through her. She needed to warn the others. Find the Oathroot pack. Someone—anyone—had to stop him.

This was not her mate.

Not the Kaldrek she knew.

“Evelyne.” His voice came low and distorted.

She couldn’t move. Her feet felt frozen to the land itself.

What was happening?

“Evelyne!”

Hands grabbed her shoulders and the scene shattered.

She gasped as she woke, the nightmare dissolving around her.

Kaldrek was there—real, solid, and very much himself—his dark brown eyes wide with concern as he gently shook her awake. Her heart pounded wildly as sweat cooled against her skin.

“Another nightmare?” he asked quietly.

She could not bring herself to speak, so she only nodded. She could not tell him it had been the same dream again.

Kaldrek drew her gently into his arms and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head, his hand moving slowly through her hair as he tried to soothe her. But even when she closed her eyes, sleep never truly returned.

***

“You want to tell me why you’re being distant this morning,” Kaldrek asked lightly as they approached the path to her home, “or should I keep tiptoeing around you in case you decide to bite?”

Evelyne heard the teasing in his voice, but the words barely reached her.

How could she possibly explain any of it?

How could she tell him that the nightmare had returned again—the same one where he lost himself to something dark and terrible? How could she explain the knot twisting in her stomach as they neared the manor she had not seen since leaving to save Cillian? And how could she begin to tell him that soon she and her brother would have to tell their mother the truth about their father? Or that Aurelia still didn’t know. Or that Evelyne herself was now a wolf and mated to an alpha. And she certainly wasn’t ready to speak of Lord Ivan Bavrick.

Normally, Evelyne prided herself on keeping control of her emotions. But as the familiar path leading to Duskwood Manor came into view, everything crashed over her at once like a sudden blow to the chest. Her breath shortened, and a tremor ran through her hands.

“Come here. Now.” Kaldrek’s hand settled gently on her shoulder.

She did not argue. Her body moved toward him on instinct, as though it already knew where safety lay. He gathered her close, one arm around her shoulders while his other hand cradled the back of her head, guiding her against his chest. She pressed her cheek to him and breathed in his familiar, intoxicating scent, grounding herself in the steady strength of him. Beneath her ear, his heartbeat thudded slow and sure as he held her tightly.

Behind them, the others stopped walking, giving them space.