Chapter 268

• Elysia
• The Challenge circle had been marked out in the old way, packed earth ringed by torches even though the afternoon sun made them mostly ceremonial. I stood at the edge, close enough to see everything, exactly where I'd insisted on being.
• Denzel entered from the opposite side, already shifted, his wolf larger than I'd expected, muscle rippling beneath dark fur with none of the frailty age should have carved into him by now. Kade shifted a moment later, and even now, even after everything, the sheer size and presence of his wolf form struck something instinctive and appreciative in me that I didn't have time to examine properly.