CHAPTER 203
The dawn was a line of gray and bruised purple over the Southern horizon, but Kaelen didn't see the beauty in it.
To him, the light was a predator. It was a reminder of those monsters that had nearly turned his insides to ash back in that cursed Northern forest.
He was a mess of matted fur, dried blood, and shivering terror. The journey to the Northern Territory had taken his scouting party a full day of disciplined, tactical trekking.
He had made the return trip in a matter of hours. Driven by a desperation that bypassed exhaustion, he had pushed his wolf form to the absolute breaking point.
His lungs burned with every ragged breath, and his paws were raw from the unforgiving terrain, but he hadn't shifted back to his human form once.
To be human was to be vulnerable; to be human was to feel the full weight of the trauma screaming in his mind.
