Kaelen POV
The scream ripped through the bond like lightning through a storm.
It wasn't sound. It was her. The kind of pain that doesn't travel through ears but straight into bone.
I was already running before I realized it. Boots hitting frozen ground, breath coming in short, hard bursts. Every wolf in the ridge felt it — the shock that hit the air when she broke. Heads turned. Hands gripped weapons. But no one asked questions. They knew that sound belonged to her.
"Alpha!" Gregor's voice came from behind me, rough and sharp. "The wards lit up. Something's wrong on the east side."
"I know."
"Was it her?"
I didn't answer. My silence was enough.
Wind tore through the camp, carrying the faint metallic tang of blood and smoke. My bond with Elara pulsed — not steady, not gone — erratic, like a heartbeat fighting itself. I pushed harder up the ridge, the cold biting through my armor. The Barrens spread below, endless and gray. Somewhere out there, she was burning again.
