The wolves froze.
For a second, none of them moved. Then the leader's eyes widened slowly.
His gaze moved from the fire, to Zarek's face, to the way the land itself seemed to hold its breath around him.
His lips parted. "You..." He swallowed hard. "You're the ki… king..."
He didn't finish the word, because Zarek moved fast.
Fire exploded from his palm in a violent surge, forcing the wolves to scatter instantly.
"Shift," the leader barked.
In seconds, the wolves abandoned their half-human forms. Massive beast wolves replaced them, fur bristling, eyes glowing, claws digging into the earth.
The fight escalated immediately. One lunged from the left.
Zarek caught it in the air, his hand wrapping around its throat before slamming it into the ground hard enough to crack the soil beneath them.
Another charged from behind.
Maelina intercepted it, dagger flashing as she drove the blade clean through its eye before kicking the body off her weapon.
