The scent of dead bodies clung to the night as I burst into the clearing. My lungs burned, my muscles screamed, but I didn't stop. I couldn't.
Because there, standing in the center of the battlefield, was the man I had been running from for years. Alpha Ludwig of the Abyssal Pack.
His terrifying presence alone suffocated me. His long hair was tied back, revealing his piercing eyes. His dark robes barely moved despite the howling wind.
He hadn't changed. Still the monster who had almost destroyed everything about me.
I looked around desperately, but my sons were nowhere to be seen. My stomach twisted. I scanned the treeline, my heartbeat hammering like war drums. My eyes darkened. I took a shaky breath and then stepped forward.
"Where are they?"
Ludwig's eyes flickered toward me, but he didn't move. Then, in a voice colder than death, he finally spoke.
"They've already gone."
I stiffened. Gone? No. No, no, no. My nails dug into my palms.
