"Shěn?!?!"
Hóng Yè's panicked scream echoed through the clearing.
Bai Yue dropped her wooden ladle, completely abandoning the bubbling pot of bone broth. "We have to follow him! What if he smelled a rogue beast?! What if he's running straight into an ambush?!"
Mo Xiao didn't wait for a second invitation. The Panther Alpha instantly shifted into his massive, black-furred beast form and bounded into the thick jungle, following the trail of broken branches Shěn had left in his wake.
"Wait for me!" Hóng Yè yelled, sprinting after the Alpha with surprising speed for a starving teenager.
Bai Yue hiked up her woven skirt and prepared to run, but she barely made it two steps before her feet completely left the ground.
"Eek!"
For the second time in twenty-four hours, the world tilted sideways as a strong arm hooked under her knees. Zhāo Yàn smoothly scooped her up against his chest, not even breaking his stride as he leapt effortlessly over a massive, moss-covered log.
