Chapter 286

Olivias pov

As the rogue slammed into me, the world spun and tilted wildly. The impact knocked the wind from my lungs, and I hit the ground hard, dust swirling around me. Pain sparked in my side, but it was fear that truly threatened to immobilise me. I gazed at the creature—a dark rogue, fur bristling, eyes gleaming with a malevolent hunger.

Time shattered into fragments, each second stretching into an eternity. The rogue reared above me, its jaws wide, fangs bared, preparing for the strike that could end it all. In that heartbeat of terror, something shifted inside me, a whisper of power that flared to life.

I knew it was now or never. Clutching the earth beneath me, I drew in a breath, and with every scrap of willpower, I visualised the spirit wolf that lived within me. She was there, a brilliant light in the darkness, a guide and guardian.

"Please," I whispered, not even sure who I was pleading to—maybe Aura, maybe my own courage. As I lifted my hands, the light grew stronger, spi