Nova stumbled, coughing blood. His eyes flickered to Adam in the distance, limp in the alpha's grip. Rage burned in his chest hotter than the blood pouring from it, but his body betrayed him. His speed was gone, his strength was fading, but he didn't give up.
The alpha smirked, teeth dripping with saliva, claws twitching with anticipation. It could smell Nova's weakness, taste it in the air. Each stagger, each delayed breath, was like a signal flare screaming.
But Nova's eyes, no, his soul, burned with something else. Not desperation. Not defeat. A will so unrelenting it bent the very fabric of reality.
The alpha lunged violently at him.
Nova's vision blurred, his body screaming, but deep inside, beyond the flesh, beyond the pain, a flicker of strength awoke. His entire existence compressed into that moment, into a single thread of purpose: protect Adam, and end the alpha.
