Chapter 23

• I leapt through the air and over his warriors that were surrounding the house. My body stretched out mid-flight, casting a massive shadow on the grass below. I could feel the wind rushing past my fur, the electricity of adrenaline coursing through my veins. Below me, I could sense the warriors jumping up, trying to catch me midair. Their claws scraped uselessly at the air beneath my paws as they tried to take a piece out of me, but they missed. They all missed.
• I landed hard, crashing violently through the side of the house, the wood splintering and glass shattering as my weight tore through the wall like paper. Even as I landed, I could hear the sounds erupting outside—the high-pitched yelps and low whimpers of wolves being struck down. Ethan and his men had launched into battle the second I was through the wall. They were wiping out the guards, eliminating every last one that dared to fight back.
• My father and his Beta had already taken cover, scrambling across the living room in a panic. They ran to the opposite side of the room, clearly startled by how quickly I had made it inside. I paused, taking a moment to look around the room—the place I had grown up in. The familiar space that once held childhood memories, laughter, and family dinners now felt hollow. It was just a shell. A lie. And standing there in the wreckage of what used to be my home, I realized something very clearly: this place was no longer mine. It hadn’t been mine for a long time.