IVY
The scream woke her.
Not a human scream. A wolf howl, long and warning and terrified. Ivy bolted upright in her small stone room, heart hammering. The howl came again. Then again.
Alarms.
She was moving before her brain caught up. Grabbing the leather jacket Kai had given her. Her bare feet hit cold stone. Outside her door, the temple was chaos. Torches being lit. Wolves shifting. The smell of fear and preparation.
Zara burst through the entrance with her scarred face twisted in fury. "Thirty wolves incoming. Heavy assault formation. They're moving fast through the eastern pass."
Thirty wolves.
Ivy's violet eyes flashed without her meaning them to. Her power hummed under her skin like a trapped animal wanting out.
"Where's Kai?" she asked.
"Already at the border." Zara grabbed her arm. "Listen to me. We need you safe. We need you in the protected chamber underground. Kai's orders."
Ivy pulled away. The power flared again, silver-hot and urgent. "No."
