#Chapter 176 – Hunting Party

Ronan I crashed into them with a fury I hadn’t unleashed in years. My claws raked through the first Rogue before he even registered the attack. His body crumpled into the mud, and I spun, teeth bared, to meet the next. The air reeked of blood and damp earth, of sweat and fear. And through it all, her. She looked at me and something in my chest clenched hard enough to steal my breath. If I’d been even a heartbeat later, she would have been gone. We fell into a rhythm without speaking. I moved left, she moved right. When I struck high, she slashed low. For one savage moment, her back pressed to mine. I could feel her shaking, feel her trying to stand against the tide of her fatigue, and Gods help me, it anchored me. But these weren’t ordinary Rogues. They didn’t fight like scattered dogs, they moved with coordination, circling, and herding. And when I caught the words take her alive, a cold dread sliced through me. It confirmed what I already feared. Asher’s hand was in