The roar echoed through the eastern forest like a living shockwave.
Branches trembled violently overhead as loose bark and dead leaves rained down from the canopy. The sound itself felt wrong up close. It wasn't simply loud. It carried pressure behind it. Like rage and hunger. Something instinctive enough to unsettle the body before the mind even had time to fully process it.
Charlotte immediately lowered herself slightly, her golden eyes darting toward the darkness ahead.
"Yeah, no," she muttered quietly. "I officially hate this place even more now."
Smoke's growling deepened.
The shadow wolf remained low to the ground, every muscle tense while all four glowing eyes stayed fixed toward the direction the roar had come from. His claws pressed lightly into the dirt beneath him, ready to launch at any second.
Liam stood still between them.
Calm, almost too calm.
And that was exactly what Charlotte found disturbing right now.
