Chapter 19 The Rogue King

• He stepped from the shadows like he owned them — tall, lean, his presence swallowing the sanctuary whole, filling it with something ancient, raw, and wrong. Every instinct in me screamed danger. Every hair on my body rose, my claws itched, and my senses screamed that this was no ordinary threat.
• His eyes glowed the same crimson as Scarlet’s mark, but colder — colder than death itself. There was a cruelty in them, a power honed over centuries, a fire that had burned entire packs to ash.
• Scarlet stood beside me, silent, tense, the pendant on her neck flickering like a heartbeat out of rhythm. I could feel her pulse against mine — wild, raw, powerful. I wanted to warn her, shield her, but even I could feel the force radiating from this man.