Chapter 7 The Aftermath

• No one had ever bested the Alpha heir. Until me.
• The silence was deafening, pressing down on the training grounds like a physical weight. The moment her claws connected and Darius's blood stained the sand in bright crimson drops, the world seemed to freeze around them. Time suspended itself, caught between heartbeats, between breaths, between the moment when everything was normal and the moment when everything changed forever.
• Elara stood in the center of the combat ring, chest heaving with ragged gasps that sent spikes of agony through her bruised ribs. Her wolf still blazed hot beneath her skin, golden fire flickering behind her eyes as adrenaline coursed through her veins like liquid lightning. The scent of blood—his blood—filled the air with metallic sweetness that made her wolf keen with confused triumph.