The four spectral wolves lunged as one.
I didn't think. Just moved. My body shifted into fighting stance. My claws extended. My wolf's strength flooding through me.
Astro moved at the same moment. We positioned ourselves instinctively. Back to back. Facing opposite directions. Covering each other.
Two wolves came at me. Both made from the present mirror's shards. Their glass bodies reflected fragments of me kneeling to Luna. Offering to sacrifice. Desperate.
Two wolves attacked Astro. The future mirror's fragments. Showing pieces of me burning everything. Wearing the stolen crown. Destroying.
"Together." Astro's voice came through the red thread and out loud. "We fight together."
Always.
The first wolf reached me. Its jaws opened wide. Shard-teeth gleaming. Going for my throat.
I ducked under its lunge. Came up inside its guard. My claws raked across its glass body. Shards flew off but more filled in. It was regenerating too fast.
