The tremors had not stopped.
They rolled faintly beneath the forest floor like distant thunder trapped underground.
Aliena stood pressed against Sebastian's chest, her fingers clutching his shirt.
The gray wolf remained kneeling before her.
White-eyed.
Changed.
The rest of the pack stayed low, bodies tense, watching.
Sebastian's mind was already racing ahead.
This wasn't random.
It wasn't instinct.
It wasn't a defensive burst of power.
It had unlocked something.
He stepped back slightly and lifted one hand.
Dark fire coiled around his fingers.
Not violent.
Controlled.
He spoke a name into the flame.
"Miles."
The fire tightened into a compact sphere.
"And bring Asher."
The sphere pulsed once and shot upward into the sky like a comet, vanishing beyond the treeline.
Aliena looked up at him.
"You can do that?"
"Yes."
"You're very dramatic."
"It is efficient."
Before she could reply...
A sickening sound split the clearing.
Crack.
