Snow had begun to fall, blanketing the forest in white. Aradia ran after him, her breath a mist in the frigid air, her heart hammering.
The sounds of battle reached her first—clashing steel, snarls, screams. Hunters with silver-tipped blades surrounded Kael's pack. Wolves fell, blood staining the snow crimson.
Kael fought like a god of war, his massive form tearing through men, his claws dripping with death. But there were too many. Too many arrows, too much silver.
Aradia felt her power rising, wild and desperate. She raised her hands, and the storm answered.
Thunder cracked across the sky. Lightning split the night, striking down hunters where they stood. The snow swirled into a blizzard at her command, blinding, suffocating, deadly.
The hunters broke ranks, fleeing into the dark. Wolves howled in triumph.
But Kael… Kael stood bloodied, panting, his fur matted red. His wolf eyes locked onto her, burning with more than battle.
He shifted back, standing before her in the snow, bare and unashamed, his tan skin marred with wounds, muscles gleaming with blood and sweat.
"You are fire," he rasped, stepping toward her. "Untamed. Beautiful. Mine."
Her breath hitched as the heat of him pressed against her, the snow melting around their bodies. His hand cupped her face, rough and trembling with hunger.
And though fear and fury warred inside her, she did not pull away.