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I clenched my jaw but didn’t rise to the bait. That’s what he wanted. Always pushing. Always testing.

Damien’s voice softened, and then turned cold. “You’re weak, Lucas. You can’t even do what needs to be done.”

I stepped closer, and he stilled. “You think I won’t kill you?” I asked.

“No.” He grinned, sharp and hungry. “I know you won’t.”

The words sank in, heavier than I wanted to admit.

“You’re not like me,” Damien went on. “You don’t have the stomach for it. You’ll keep me here, locked away, pretending it’s enough. But it’s not. One day, something worse than me will come, and you’ll hesitate. And it’ll cost you.”

I stepped back before I did something I’d regret. “I don’t need to kill you,” I said. “I just need to keep you down here.”

He laughed—a hollow, brittle sound. “Until when?”

“Until you are not a threat any longer.”

“Then you may as well kill me now.”

I turned away. I didn’t want to see the hunger in his eyes. Or the truth.

“Lucas,” he called after me. “You can’t hold me forever.”

Then, I heard it. A scream. Sharp. Tearing through the stone like claws.

I turned away from Damien, running up the stairs. Another scream followed. It was closer this time. And then, a terrifying roar.

Shifters.

I didn’t think. I ran.

The iron door to the cell slammed shut behind me, Damien’s laughter echoing in the dark.

“Looks like your hesitation just caught up with you,” he called.

I didn’t stop. I cleared the last steps and burst into the corridor, boots slamming against the stone as I sprinted for the exit. My mind raced, but instincts took over.

Fight. Protect. Survive.

By the time I hit the surface, the night was alive with chaos.

Flames licked at the edges of the town. Shadows moved fast between the trees, snarling, shifting, tearing through anything in their path. Bodies lay scattered. Some were moving, some too still. The scent of blood coated the air.

“Annika!” I shouted.

I didn’t see her, but I felt her. It was that sharp pull in my chest, the bond that never let go. She was alive. She was fighting.

I pushed forward, cutting through the smoke.

A shifter lunged out of the shadows, a blur of fur and teeth. I sidestepped, slamming my fist into its ribs and hearing the crack of bone. It yelped, but I didn’t give it time to recover. My blade was out before it hit the ground, slicing through its throat.

Another shape loomed. I turned, but it was Kael. Blood streaked his face, and his blade dripped red.

“They’re after her,” he said, breathless. “They’re pushing toward the cottage!”

I didn’t wait for more. I ran.

Shifters came at us in waves. Some in half-human forms, some fully turned. There were wolves, bears, twisted beasts built for war. I cut through them, steel flashing, fangs bared. The night burned around me, and the ground shook beneath the weight of the fight.