River nodded, too stunned to speak. Her hands clutched the seat beneath her.
Heiko hesitated for the briefest moment, his hand brushing her cheek in a gesture so swift she almost thought she imagined it. Then he was gone—the door opened and slammed shut behind him, sealing her in.
For a few seconds, there was only silence.
Then the world exploded.
Terrifying growls echoed through the trees. The clash of steel on flesh. Screams—human and inhuman. Bones breaking. Flesh being torn. The sound of something heavy thudding to the ground, again and again.
River curled into herself, her entire body trembling. But what shook her more than the noise was the wave of emotion crashing through the mate bond.
Rage. Blood lust.
Heiko’s fury was unlike anything she’d ever felt. It didn’t burn hot—it
