ATASHA’S POV


    I couldn’t decide what was more insane, letting the monster who nearly tore me apart shield me, or pouring my strength into healing him and praying he’d save me from something even worse.


    For what felt like forever, I stared at him. Then another shriek ripped through the clearing. Cassian’s head snapped toward the sound, and in the next instant, he lunged.


    The bat tried to rise, wings ring, but this time Cassian was faster. His wounds no longer slowed him. My healing still pulsed through his body, sealing torn muscle, closing every gash that had nearly crippled him before. His ws hooked into the bat’s side, dragging it down. Snow exploded around them as his fangs ripped into its neck.


    The bat screeched,shing out, its wings beating against him with enough force to shake the trees. But Cassian held on, snapping his jaws across the base of one leathery wing. The sound was sickening, a tear like fabric ripping, only wetter, blood spraying as the wing crumpled uselessly to the ground.


    I stumbled back a step, my hands shaking, my body pressing closer to the wall of the cave. I could’ve run inside, hidden where he couldn’t reach me. That would’ve been the smart choice. But I didn’t move. Goddess, I was an idiot. Instead, I stood there, pinned between fear and something else I couldn’t name, watching him fight.


    The bat swung its remaining wing. It was a wild desperate strike, but Cassian ducked under it and shed upwards. His ws ripped through the second wing, tearing it apart until the creature shrieked and crashed into the snow, grounded.


    Cassian didn’t stop. His massive wolf form bore down on it, ws pinning its chest. His jaws opened wide and, with one brutal bite, he tore through its throat. Blood sprayed, hot against the snow, steaming in the cold. Then, with another wrench of his head, he ripped the creature’s skull free from its body. The bat’s shriek died instantly, its headless corpse twitching once before falling still.


    The clearing fell silent, except for my ragged breathing.


    Then Cassian turned. His glowing red eyes locked on me, unblinking. My back was already pressed against the cave wall, but I swore my body tried to press even further, every nerve on edge.


    And then… he jumped.


    In one damn movement he was there, towering over me. I froze so hard my lungs forgot to work. His ws lifted, and for a terrifying moment I thought he would tear my throat open.


    But instead, the tips brushed against my cheek.


    I shut my eyes, my breath stuck in my chest. His touch was cold and warm at the same time, the sharp edge of ws pressing but not breaking skin. Then… out of nowhere, I heard the sound of bone cracking.


    My eyes snapped open.


    Right in front of me, his body twisted again. Bones shifting, skin stretching, fur receding. The massive wolf


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    shrank, limbs folding, his chest heaving as if the transformation itself was ripping him apart. ws shortened into hands. His fangs retracted. His snout shrank into a jaw, blood dripping down his bare skin.


    And then he was there, Cassian, standing in his human form, bare–chested, sweat and blood streaking his body. His hair stuck to his face, his chest rising and falling as he stared at me with those same red eyes, only


    softer now.


    He let out a short snort, almost like augh. “Foolish,” he muttered.


    I blinked at him, stunned. The word barely made sense before his body tilted. His knees buckled, and he copsed forward.


    “Cassian!”


    I lunged, catching his naked form against me. His weight was crushing, my knees nearly giving out, but I held him. He was unconscious, his breath ragged, but alive.


    I hooked an arm under his shoulder and dragged him toward the cave. Each step was a fight. His body was too heavy, my arms trembling, but I refused to let him drop. Inch by inch, I pulled him inside, through the narrow tunnel, scraping my back against stone with every shove.


    By the time I reached the clearing with the pool, my arms burned, my body shaking so badly I nearly copsed. But I didn’t let go. I lowered him down near the water’s edge, chest heaving.


    I stared at him, his body sprawled across the stone, unconscious but alive. My throat tightened <i>as </i>I sat on the cold floor. My arms felt like they’d been ripped from their sockets, my whole body trembling from the effort of dragging him back.


    I didn’t think I would live through that.


    Cassian was right. I was foolish. Completely reckless. What was I even thinking, stepping out from behind that tree and trying to lure that monster toward me? I pressed a shaky hand to my face, teeth digging into my lip. If he hadn’t… if he hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t even have bones left to bury.


    My head tipped back, eyes closing as exhaustion pulled at me. Every muscle ached, my thoughts swimming, but I forced myself not <i>to </i>sink into it.


    The faint glow of the fire pulled me back. It was still burning, barely, embers clinging to life. I crawled toward it and grabbed the pile of wood Cassian had brought earlier. My fingers fumbled as I fed the me, stacking branches until it caught and grew steady again. The warmth pushed back the chill, just enough to keep the cold from wing too deep into my bones.


    I turned back to him.


    Cassiany sprawled where I had lowered him, his body bare except for blood drying in streaks along his skin. His face looked almost… calm, as if none of what just happened had touched him.


    I tugged one of the cloaks off the rock where I had left it earlier and draped it over his body. My hand lingered on his chest for a moment. I pushed a little of my healing into him, checking, mending what I could. The wounds were already gone, sealedpletely. His body was strong enough on its own, but still, I felt better knowing.


    8:14 Mon, Sep 15


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    I sat back, knees pulled up, the dagger resting across myp. My eyes stayed on him, trying to make sense of what I had seen.


    One moment, he was gone, lost, consumed by the beast. The next, he was shielding me, fighting for me, touching my face with hands that could have killed me in an instant. Why? What changed?


    I didn’t know. I couldn’t understand.


    There were too many things in this world I couldn’t exin.


    My gaze drifted back to his face. He looked like he was only sleeping now. No trace of that feral rage remained, no sign of the monster that had howled and wed at me. Just Cassian, the man I barely knew, the man I was supposed to fear more than anyone.


    I pulled my other cloak around myself, curling into it as the firelight flickered against the stone walls.


    Outside, the red moon still hung high, its glow spilling through the cracks of the cave, bathing the night in its bloody light.


    I sat there<i>, </i>watching him, waiting, uncertain of what tomorrow might bring. Soon enough my eyelids grew heavy, the weight of exhaustion finally dragging at me. Just as I thought I could steal the rest my body so desperately needed, the ground trembled beneath me.