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I felt the sheer power that suddenly surged through my limbs, the newness of it, the wrongness and rightness all at once. I lunged, my new form instinctively responding before my mind could catch up.

A furious, feral snarl tore from my throat as I barreled into the creature that had been coming for me, slamming it to the ground.

My claws tore into its throat before I even had time to think about what I was doing. My fangs sank deep, my instincts taking over, and when I ripped away, the Nyktos let out one final, awful gurgling wail before it collapsed, twitching, lifeless.

Everythingfelt different.

I had shifted!

I was awolfnow.

I was still adjusting to my new form, my paws light on the dirt as I moved, every nerve in my body alive with heightened senses. The world was sharper, clearer—the scent of blood thick in the air, the sounds of chittering and snapping jaws making my ears flatten—but there was no time to think about what had just happened because the Nyktos were everywhere.

It was utter bloody chaos.

Rowan’s massive black wolf form lunged, his fangs clamping around the throat of one of the smaller creatures, snapping its spine with a terrible crunch. Varek, his silver coat streaked with blood, tore into the chest of another, but one of the insectoids was already circling behind him, its thin wings vibrating as it raised its clawed limbs to strike.

I moved faster than I’d ever moved before.

The wind rushed past me as I leapt, barreling into the creature’s side before it could attack. My new form was powerful, my claws digging into its hard, chitinous exoskeleton as I ripped its head back.

It screeched, thrashing wildly, but I held on, my new fangs sinking deep into the base of its skull. My powerful jaws crushed through the bone and it collapsed beneath me, twitching, black blood leaking from its wounds.

I whirled around, looking for my next target when I saw Hale fall.

One of the larger Nyktos—one that was humanoid but still so wrong, its limbs stretched unnaturally long, its face twisted into a grotesque mockery of a man—had impaled him, driving its clawed hand straight through his chest.

Hale’s wolf form jerked violently, a wet, gasping whine slipping past his lips as blood poured from his body.

A snarl ripped from my throat, raw and savage, but before I could move, the creature ripped its claws free, sending Hale’s lifeless body crashing to the ground.

My vision blurred with rage.

I launched myself forward, my claws digging into the creature’s back as I ripped and tore, my teeth finding its neck, tearing through it in a hot, wet spray of blood.

It collapsed, its limbs twitching, but it was a useless vengeance.

Hale was dead.

Caleb was next.

I didn’t even see what got him—just a blur of movement, a flash of razor-sharp teeth, and he was gone, dragged screaming into the darkness of the cave’s entrance.

Ryan let out a howl of rage, his huge brown wolf charging after him, but another Nyktos leapt onto his back, its clawed limbs tearing into his flesh.

There were too many.

We were losing.

Horrified, I watched Varek go down. One of the creatures slashed across his side, its claws ripping through muscle, sending him sprawling into the dirt with an agonized cry.

Silas snarled viciously, his smoky gray wolf form tearing through the monster before it could finish Varek off, his fangs snapping through its head, shaking it viciously before throwing its lifeless body to the ground.

I ran toward Varek, my paws kicking up dirt as I reached him. His fur was soaked with blood and his breathing was ragged, his sides heaving.

I pressed against him, guarding his body as two more creatures lunged.

Silas was there before they could reach us, his enormous wolf body crashing into them midair, sending them skidding across the ground in broken, twitching piles.