KAANI could feel Asena tense as her eyes locked on the new guy. I had put the fucker on the Elite Squad because he was the son of an Alpha, but seeing Asena's reaction, I realized that I might have made a mistake. It was obvious that she knew him; he would have become her Alpha if we hadn't destroyed the Eastern Valley Pack. She might have hated him solely because he had chosen to save his skin by joining us, and for a moment, I believed that was her reason to react this way. He surely was a traitorous piece of shit. Then again, so was most of this squad and the army I led…Asena's knuckles whitened as her fists continued to clench. Then my eyes turned to the fucker… The way he looked at her made me want to claw his eyes out. It became obvious that whatever was between him and Asena seemed personal, and I would have lied, saying it hadn't turned the blood in my veins into lava.“Quit staring at her, or I will make sure you die in the first upcoming battle.” If my words hadn't carried

We were riding for more than six hours without stopping, but at least we finally managed to pass the mountains. Kaan told me that we were an hour away from reaching the Sombra Valley, where the rest of the army should gather and build the war camp. My stomach churned at that thought. Traveling alongside a few assholes was exhausting enough, and I could barely imagine staying in a place filled with more than two hundred bloodthirsty bastards who might be even more brutal than those from the Elite Squad.Our second day of travel seemed different than the first one, but I had yet to determine whether it was a good thing or not. I felt as if I had let Kaan tame me; that was what he did. I wasn't sure when I had gotten so used to his touch that it became something natural. I casually leaned into his embrace as if it were the safest place to be. And the strangest part was that I could no longer convince myself that staying with him was wrong.“So…” Kaan started when we found ourselves at a

The crowd turned silent, their eyes on me. Kylar slowly dropped his hands to his sides, blinking as if he tried to establish whether I was truly there, accepting his challenge. Others surely either wondered if I got here by accident or questioned my sanity. Caspian's hand landed on my shoulder, and he turned me toward him.“Are you sure about this?” There was no mockery in his tone, just a genuine concern.My lips formed a nervous smile. “This is why you brought me here, isn't it?”He mirrored my smile and nodded. “Yes… kind of… But I thought you'd let him beat someone else first. You know, let some other dickhead make him sweat before you jump in. Or better, let him fight five other warriors before you step into the ring.”My brows rose. “But wouldn't it feel like cheating then?”He rolled his eyes. “And do you seriously believe this will be a fair fight?”I shrugged. “He can't kill me here, right? The worst-case scenario is that I will have my ass handed to me. In the best-case scen

ASENAI slowly lifted myself to sit and shook my head. “But that's impossible... My wolf spirit is still asleep!”Kaan raised his brows. “Are you sure about that?”Frustration coiled within me. “Of course I'm sure! Don't you think I would have used my spirit to fight that asshole if there was even a sliver of chance that it was awake?”He shrugged. “Maybe it's waking up right now because I surely saw the wolf in your eyes.”My heart began to thunder. I sucked in a shaky breath and ran my trembling fingers through my hair. “You said that my eyes were red... I don't think it is possible.”He let out a slow exhale and narrowed his eyes at me. “You told me about your father, who used to be an unranked warrior, but you never told me about your mother.”I bit the inner side of my cheek for a moment, wondering what words I should use. “I… I've never met my mother,” I muttered as my lips twitched into a nervous half-smile. “I know her name was Sheya and that my father met her after one of the

The boy stared at me with his wide green eyes filled with fear. His small chest heaved and fell with fast, shallow pants. I raised my hands and moved back. “I'm not going to hurt you,” I said.Rising to his hands and feet, he crawled back against the nearest tree, dropping his bow in the process. I snatched it and took a closer look. It was fine craftsmanship. The bow was light and was definitely created to fit small hands. I put the bow away and looked at the boy. “Are you from the Crescent Hills Pack?”He swallowed and nodded.I looked around and heard the sound of heavy footsteps. Shit. The warriors were getting closer. I drew a deep breath and locked my eyes on the scared child. “Did someone send you here?” I doubted that anyone would send a kid to a battle, but I needed to be sure.He shook his head again. “I… wanted to help.”I cursed under my breath. “You can't help anyone like this. Those few arrows you shot didn't even cause serious damage. You can only get yourself killed.”