Page 28

She tries to sit up and winces. I hold her steady.

“I told you not to get hurt,” I say, voice rougher than I mean it to be.

She smiles faintly. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“Well, I’m saying it now.”

Movement behind me. I tense again, ready to fight—but this time, the air shifts for a different reason.

A presence approaches. Familiar. Powerful.

And then, Erik steps into the clearing.

He looks every inch the king now—tall, dressed in black and gold, a wolf’s sigil embroidered over his chest. His hair is shorter than I remember, his jaw sharper. But those eyes—my brother’s eyes—haven’t changed.

He sees me.

For a moment, he doesn’t speak. Doesn’t breathe. His eyes go wide, stunned and full of something I can’t name.

“Griffin?”

The word is half breath, half disbelief.

I rise to my feet, my heart pounding, Maya still steadying herself behind me.

“It’s been a long time,” I say quietly.

Erik stares at me for a moment, then breaks into a grin that looks both feral and devastated. He walks forward slowly, like he’s afraid I’ll vanish again if he moves too fast.

“You’re alive.”

I nod once. Finally, Erik crosses the distance between us and pulls me into a hug. It’s not formal. No stiff greeting. No royal protocol. It’s rough and fast and messy, but it’s real. I feel him shaking.

“I thought you were dead,” he says, his voice breaking. “We all did.”

“I wanted to be,” I mutter.

He pulls back, his brow furrowing at the sight of the chaos behind me. The guards, bloody and broken. Tomas standing still like a statue. And Maya—bruised and bleeding, now trying to stand.

“What happened here?”

I glance back at Maya, then at the guards. “They didn’t recognize me,” I say. “And they touched her.”

His gaze drops to Maya. Then he looks back at me, realization dawning. “You snapped. Because of her.”

I don’t answer. But I don’t deny it, either. Because he’s right.

Erik glances between me and Maya like he’s trying to piece together a puzzle with too many sharp edges.

“You need a healer—” he begins, his eyes on me.

“She needs a healer,” I snap, more growl than voice. “Now.”

He takes a step back, hands raised slightly in peace, but his eyebrows lift. “You don’t have to bite my head off, brother.”

Maya moves beside me, and I feel her lean slightly into my side. Not much. But enough.

“Don’t,” I growl when Erik takes a step in her direction. “Just—don’t separate us.” The fury is still riding me, sharp and tangled in my chest. I’m not ready to let her go. Not after seeing her thrown like that. Not when I can still smell her pain in the air.