073 | VALERIA

I stilled, my body locking in place as I stared down at her.

And then she groaned.

I crouched down beside her. “Valeria?” I whispered, twisting at my waist and searching the pathway for her attacker. They had to still be close – too close. But there was nobody, not along the path or on the rocky outcrops above. I was hyper-aware of sound and movement as I brushed my fingertips over Valeria’s bloody muzzle. Her eyelids fluttered.

She squeezed her eyes shut, her face contorting in pain, and then she shifted into her human form. “Ares – needs to – initiate you – into the – pack.” Her breaths sounded wet. I kept my gaze fixed on her face, purposefully ignoring the steadily growing pool of red spilling out from beneath her. “Not being able – to mindlink – is a real – pain.”

My lips twitched. Valeria had been one of very few wolves that I’d been able to train with back in Winterpaw Warrior. Everyone else had wanted to kill me, and our fights have ended up bloody and brutal every time. But