Updated Sep 16, 2025 • ~2 min read
The uneasy peace shattered with a single horn blast. The sound rolled across the hills, sharp and urgent, and every wolf in the village froze where they stood. Mira’s pulse kicked hard in her throat. She knew that sound—it was the same that had preceded the first attack.
Wolves shifted in a blur, claws hitting dirt, teeth bared as they rushed to the barricades. Villagers scrambled for cover, the memory of fire and blood still raw in their minds.
Mira stood rooted for a moment, torn between running and fighting, until the bond seared her wrist. She felt his presence before she saw him.
Darius.
He strode through the chaos, golden eyes blazing, his command carrying like thunder. “Form ranks. Hold the line.”
The attackers burst from the treeline—rogue wolves, larger than most, their eyes wild with hunger. They moved with reckless fury, tearing into the defenses. The air filled with snarls and the clash of teeth and steel.
Mira ducked behind an overturned cart, her chest heaving. She should have hidden, stayed out of the fight. But when a rogue wolf broke through the line, crashing toward the huts, her body moved before her mind caught up.
She grabbed a fallen spear, the wood rough in her hands. As the beast lunged, she drove the weapon forward, the tip biting deep into its shoulder. The wolf yelped, staggering back.
But there was another.
It came from the side, too fast, too strong. Mira stumbled, the spear torn from her hands. Claws raked across the earth, teeth snapping—
And then Darius was there.
He hit the rogue like a storm, his body shifting mid-motion, claws and teeth ripping the beast away from her. His roar shook the clearing, savage and commanding, scattering the enemy with sheer force.
Mira’s knees buckled, her breath ragged as she stared at him—not the alpha, not the cursed beast, but both at once, terrifying and magnificent.
The battle raged around them, but for a heartbeat, all she could hear was the pounding of her own heart and the bond that burned like fire between them.
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