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The shadows grew thicker, dancing erratically around my monster as she flew through the woods. She paid no mind to their stress, pushing forward, toward Namir. And where he was, I knew the Dark King would probably be too.

A burst of darkness broke through a cloud of shadows, devouring a massive chunk of the dark fog whole. With the brothers each possessing one part of the Night Throne’s magic, their powers complemented one another evenly. Neither of the men could kill each other—

But Laith could kill me, and I could kill him.

As my monster had proven, she would destroy anything and anyone she needed to in order to survive. If Laith attacked her, he’d find himself facing a fiercer opponent than he expected.

But… neither she nor I had learned how to fight since we’d gotten free of our chains. We’d learned to cook, and make pottery, and mend dresses, and dance the most basic steps, but we hadn’t learned to act and react the way a warrior would.

I’d just have to hope that grit was enough to carry us through, I supposed.

The shadows and darkness grew thicker and heavier as my wolf plunged deeper into the forest.

We saw the first fight, then.

A shadow fae I recognized from the castle, one who trained with Namir frequently. She was short but just as well-muscled as the king—and sometimes even faster than him. I saw the shadows leaking off her form as she faced off with a fae whose figure blended into the darkness surrounding them. He’d nearly disappeared, but not completely.

My wolf had one focus: reaching Namir.

Finding her king.

But I urged her toward the female fae, unwilling to let the woman risk her life when my wolf could make her chances of survival so much greater.

For one of the first times in my life, my wolf obeyed me.

She turned fully to shadow, and then lunged toward the battling fae. Her smoke-like form went straight through Namir’s friend, and her teeth materialized just in time to tear straight through the large male fae’s throat.

His head hit the ground and his body followed quickly.

My wolf landed smoothly, her paws immaterial once again.

The female warrior looked a bit pale, but nodded her thanks toward my wolf before turning and sprinting further into the forest, toward the place the shadows and darkness seemed to be converging.

That would be the place we would find Namir and his brother—that would be the place we fought for the life of my mate.

My wolf began running in the same direction as the other fae, but something made her pause a moment after she started.

Skidding to a stop, she looked around the forest, searching for… something.

I didn’t know what she was looking for, but there was this feeling in my chest—this eerie, achy feeling that I didn’t understand. It felt foreign, and—

My breathing cut off as darkness flooded my wolf’s throat.

The magic I possessed didn’t just react; it exploded.

Shadows tore through the darkness, ripping the thick magic from my lungs and giving me an airway again. My wolf gasped for breath but wasted no time, turning jerkily as she searched for the person behind the power.

The darkness was strong—really strong.

But Namir had to have known where his brother was, didn’t he? He had warned me that Laith would be looking for me, but…

My thoughts cut off as my eyes collided with a set that were nearly identical to Namir’s, but instead of gray, they were pure black.

The man they belonged to was about the same height as my king, with the same naturally tan skin and dark hair, but built entirely differently. Laith’s muscles were bulging and chiseled, every inch of his arms and legs much thicker than Namir’s. Where Namir was built to run and swing a sword, his brother was built to injure and destroy.

And feeling the intensity of the power that emanated from the man, I realized I understood why Namir had played defense for so long. Nothing about his brother so much as whispered empathy, or love, or compassion.

He was a brute, through and through.