Selara's breath stilled.
Whatever stepped through the trees did not belong to the forest.
It did not belong to Kaelen.
It did not belong to anything she understood.
At first glance, it almost resembled a wolf its frame tall, its limbs powerful but that illusion shattered the moment it moved. Its body didn't follow the natural rhythm of muscle and bone; it shifted, as though something beneath its skin refused to settle into a single form. Dark strands of energy crawled across its surface, not like veins, but like something alive, threading and unthreading themselves as it breathed.
Its eyes locked onto Selara.
Not red.
Not gold.
Void.
Empty in a way that made her chest tighten.
The ground beneath it darkened with each step forward, as though the soil itself recoiled from its presence. The air grew colder, thinner, harder to breathe.
Selara didn't move.
