DALTON POV
The forest swallowed us whole.
Kai cut ahead of us, every step sharp and certain, her body a ribbon of tension against the low wash of moonlight. Derrick and I followed, keeping her exact pace because that’s what we did—because none of us could stand to let her out of reach.
Shade prowled just under my skin, restless, impatient, hungry. He pressed claws against the inside of my ribs like a reminder: let me out, let me out, let me out.
But I didn’t. Not yet. Not when the world was still full of shadows that I could map, scents I could trace, sounds I could catalog. I kept him muzzled, and instead I let my brain do what it always did—see the patterns, the angles, the ways this night might collapse or bloom.
Derrick was beside me, shoulders still carrying the aftermath of his
