Page 64 of The Midnight Death Match

Harek moves half a step ahead, every muscle in his body poised to spring. He’s clearly fighting his desire to run directly to them.

Einar places a steadying hand on my shoulder, barely a whisper against my tense muscles. “Hold.”

I nod, breathing shallow. The curse hums faintly in my blood now, as if it senses the confrontation looming.

Lys drifts forward beside me, calm as ever. “They want you visible and upset.”

In other words, they want me to slip.

The leader’s attention settles on me fully now, a low growl curling in his throat. “Hybrid.” He spits the word like venom. “You carry the filth that broke the balance. You should not exist.”

“Yet here I am.”

The surrounding wolves snarl softly, pacing.

Harek’s parents stir against their bindings, desperate, but unable to speak through whatever spell holds them quiet.

My pulse drums beneath my skin. The wolf inside me presses harder, but I lock it down again. First, I need to see the full shape of the trap they’ve laid.

Tension in the air coils tighter, every heartbeat a countdown toward whatever they have planned.

The pack leader paces a slow circle in front of Harek’s parents. He speaks to me, but his gaze keeps flicking toward Harek like a wolf sizing up fresh prey. “You’ve broken linesthat should never be crossed. Watcher blood, wolf blood, hunter blood. You’re an abomination, a scar on the land.”

I hold his stare. “That’s where you’re wrong. I’m anevolution. Things are changing, and you’re afraid to lose the past. But new things are coming, and you can’t stop it. I’m going to make sure of it.”

His lips curl into something close to a grin. “We came here to reclaim what was lost.”

He raises his hand. The shadows at the edges of the clearing surge forward—more wolves, fully shifted, snapping jaws gleaming in the moonlight.

The ambush ignites like a match.

Einar moves first, cutting down one of the lunging wolves before it reaches us. Harek’s blade flashes beside me as I bring out my own, but too many wolves pour from the trees at once.

The magic hums sharply all around, meant to separate us.

I swing hard, my blade slicing into fur and flesh as the first wolf lunges toward my ribs. My wolf instincts surge with the blood scent, heat rising beneath my skin like wildfire.

“Eira!” Harek’s voice cracks through the chaos.

I turn. Too late.

Two massive wolves slam into Harek from behind, knocking him to the ground. His sword flies from his hand as claws dig into his shoulders. More shadows swarm, driving a wedge between us as he fights to break free.

My pulse spikes into panic. “Harek!”

The leader snarls, his voice cutting above the snarls. “Take him!”

They drag Harek toward the dark woods, claws tearing into dirt as he kicks and shouts, fighting against the mass of snarling fur pulling him deeper into the trees.

All of us race after them, but they’re faster. Two wolves intercept me, snapping viciously, forcing me back.

The rage inside me spikes. My vision narrows as my wolf claws for control.

Einar shouts as he cuts down another attacker, but he’s also too far to reach Harek.

Lys steps toward me, his voice a whisper. “Careful. The moment you lose yourself here, they win.”

I slam the wolf instincts down again—barely.