Chapter 131

Lusia The woods thickened, dark, and impenetrable, swallowing any light that the moon threw into the desolation in its jagged gulps. I was crouched very low in the underbrush with my claws digging into the soft earth, the form of my wolf. Bristling fur accompanied a low growl rumbling in my chest as I stared across the clearing at the lone figure: a woman dressed in a rough, gray servant's smock with, a black mask across her face. The scent was wrong: sharp and pretty foreign, cutting the pine and damp moss like a knife. My wolf wanted to hurl and leap at this threat, but I held my muscles coiled and my eyes tracing every move she made. She was still standing, arms folded in front of her, that mask glimmering slightly where the edge of the moon caught it. "Easy, Lusia," the voice was soft and steady enough to carry above the clamor of rustling leaves. "I just want to help." My snarl grew deeper, lips curling back to display my teeth. Help? I did not trust it—not after Kiara, not after