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I moved, my blade flashing, but it was fast, faster than anything its size should have been.

Someone shot their gun beside me and the creature’s head snapped back, black blood spraying against the rocks.

I turned just in time to see Silas lower his gun, his eyes blazing with fury.

“Lia!” he roared. “Stay close!”

I barely had time to nod before another wave of Nyktos came pouring from the cave, their limbs twitching, the clicking growing louder. This was an ambush; they had been waiting for us.

Silas shifted first, his body warping with the sickening crack of bone and muscle as thick, smoky gray fur erupted across his skin. His golden eyes burned even brighter, his massive form crouching low before he lunged, his deadly jaws tearing through the throat of the nearest one.

Rowan shifted a heartbeat later, his wolf form huge and jet black, his blue eyes now fierce and glowing like ice. Without hesitation, he ripped through a humanoid creature, sending it skidding across the rock-strewn earth, its shriek cut off as he clamped down on its ribcage, crunching through bone like it was nothing.

Varek was a blur of movement, his coat a sleek silver with dark streaks running down his back, his fangs bared as he turned and raked his claws across the belly of one of the insectoid monsters, sending a sickening splat of black ichor spilling onto the dirt. The creature flinched, making a clicking, garbled sound, but before it could scramble away, Varek pounced, snapping its head clean off with one vicious shake of his jaws.

Ryan, Caleb, and Hale shifted next, their wolves snarling as they barreled into the fray, their fur bristling, their claws and fangs tearing through the things that dared to attack us.

It was chaos.

The Nyktos weren’t just fast; they were relentless.

They swarmed, their movements erratic, their jagged limbs twitching and spasming, as they skittered and lunged, screeching with insatiable hunger. The humanoid ones crawled along the rocks, their gnarled fingers reaching, grasping, their eyes gleaming wet and soulless as they pounced from above.

The insectoid ones hovered just above the battlefield, their thin wings vibrating, their long claws slashing downward in quick, deadly arcs. One of them dove for Silas, its gaping mouth opening wide, lined with rows of needle-sharp teeth.

I moved instantly.

My knife was already in motion as I dodged a lunging Nyktos, twisting and slicing its throat in one smooth motion.

It screamed, gurgling as it collapsed, but there was no time to breathe.

Another one came from the side, its black eyes bulging, its long fingers stretching toward me. I ducked low, rolling under its grasp before kicking up, slamming my boot into its chest. It stumbled back just enough for me to drive my blade up into its gut.

The creature convulsed, screaming as it collapsed.

I was panting now, my heart slamming against my ribs, my muscles burning, but the creatures just kept coming.

A blur of movement caught my eye; another insectoid Nyktos had Hale pinned, its claws digging into his chest, its mandibles snapping at his throat.

I started toward him, but then…

Pain.

A sharp, searing agony erupted through my body, tearing through my spine like fire, like my bones were breaking all at once.

I screamed, collapsing to my knees.

The pain barreled through me without mercy.

It was shredding me apart, burning me from the inside out.

My skin rippled and stretched. Whatever the fuck was happening, I was powerless to stop it. My fingers dug into the dirt as my vision blurred, my heart pounding to the point of agony, every sound too loud, every scent too strong.

Another shriek, a Nyktos, lunging for me, and then, everything shifted.

One moment, I was human.

The next, I wasn’t.