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“What do you want?” My voice emerges as a croak. A cold knot of fear tightens inside my chest. “Griffin won’t come for me.”

“Oh, but he will.” Cassian’s hand grips my shoulder, fingers digging painfully into my flesh. “The great king, rushing to save his human pet. How predictable.”

“You’re wrong.” I force the words out, each one tasting like ash. “He doesn’t love me.”

Mathew laughs, the sound echoing harshly in the small space. “You should see your face when you say that. You’re a terrible liar, Maya.”

“It doesn’t matter what I feel,” I snap, struggling against my bonds. “He made his choice. He chose his kingdom, not me.”

“We’ll see,” Cassian says, moving to prepare something I can’t quite glimpse. “We’ll see exactly what the wolf king is willing to sacrifice for you.”

My thoughts are fracturing, reality blurring at the edges. Something stirs within me—a strange sensation, like an entity awakening deep in my consciousness. I’ve never felt anything like it before, a buzzing awareness that seems separate from my own mind.

Cassian lifts a needle and hands it to Mathew, who bends down.

As the needle pierces my skin, darkness creeps over the edges of my vision. The strange presence inside me grows stronger, more distinct. Is this death, finally coming to claim me? After months of emptiness, of grief, of alcohol-numbed existence, is this how it ends?

A part of me welcomes it. The release, the end of pain.

Another part—the part that spoke with Griffin this morning, that felt something other than numbness for the first time in months—rails against it. I want to tell him that I understand whyhe pushed me away. I want to say I forgive him, that he shouldn’t blame himself once I’m gone.

But the darkness is pulling me under, and I have no strength left to fight it.

Distantly, I hear glass shatter. Shouts. A roar that shakes the very foundation of the cabin.

Then, chaos erupts.

A massive silver wolf crashes through the window, its fur gleaming like polished metal in the dying sunlight. Teeth bared, muscles taut with deadly power, it launches straight at Cassian.

Griffin!

Despite everything, my heart leaps with recognition.

Cassian shifts in an instant, his wolf form smaller but wiry and quick. The two beasts collide in a blur of teeth and claws, snarling and snapping. Furniture splinters beneath their weight. Equipment crashes to the floor.

Two figures rush out the door, and Mathew yanks me from the chair, using me as a shield. Something cold and sharp presses against my throat—a scalpel, I realize dimly.

Griffin and Cassian break apart, both bleeding from multiple wounds. Griffin’s amber eyes find mine, and the raw anguish in them pierces through my drug-induced haze.

Cassian circles, looking for an opening.

The pressure at my throat increases, and something warm trickles down my neck. The strange presence inside me surges in response to the danger, a primal force I’ve never experienced before.

Griffin’s attention shifts from me to Cassian and back, torn between protecting me and defending himself. In that moment of distraction, Cassian strikes, sinking his teeth into Griffin’s shoulder.

Griffin roars in pain but throws Cassian off with tremendous force. The smaller wolf crashes into a wall of equipment, glassshattering around him. He staggers to his feet, bleeding heavily but still dangerous.

The two wolves circle each other, evenly matched in their fury if not their size. Blood darkens Griffin’s silver fur, but his eyes remain fixed on Cassian, calculating each move.

Mathew drags me backward toward the door. The scalpel digs deeper, and I feel more blood seeping from the wound.

A strange calm settles over me as death approaches. The darkness I see around me deepens, reality fading in and out like a bad radio transmission. The strange presence within me grows stronger still, refusing to surrender.

Griffin lunges at Cassian with renewed fury. Their battle becomes a blur of silver and brown, teeth and claws, blood and fur. The cabin trembles with their power and their rage.

In a swift, decisive movement, Mathew draws the scalpel across my throat. “You’re welcome,” he whispers excitedly against my ear.

The pain, hot and sharp, is followed by a terrible wetness. I try to scream but produce only a gurgling noise.