SERAPHINA’S POV
Training ended with the satisfaction of a victory.
The clearing gradually emptied as the others shifted back into their human forms, laughter and low conversation drifting through the tall pines.
Yet as we walked back toward the pack houses, the crisp evening air cooling the heat of exertion still clinging to my skin, my mind refused to settle.
Because the image had returned.
Ash.
Blood.
Kieran on his knees.
I could still see, in awful detail, the way the blackened earth drank his life like rain.
I'd tried pushing it aside for days, focusing instead on Celeste and Catherine's drama.
Maybe it was the cleansing effect of training—or because I was training to court danger.
Either way, that damned vision was all I could think about now.
And of course, Kieran noticed my change in countenance.
He fell into step beside me as the others moved ahead along the winding forest path to Nightfang.
