Wrenna Voss's POV
The shadow hit me like a freight train.
Heavy paws slammed into my shoulders, driving me face-first toward the mud. Before I could twist away, razor-sharp fangs sank directly into the back of my neck.
They didn't just bite flesh. They clamped perfectly over the scarred tissue of my mate mark.
A scream ripped from my throat as the old wound tore open. I shoved the heavy brass horn backward, blindly smashing the metal into the attacker's skull.
"Get off me!" I roared.
Bone crunched. The rogue whimpered, releasing my neck.
I stumbled forward, spinning around and wiping the hot blood from my eyes. I raised the dented horn like a club, my chest heaving.
Six wolves stepped out of the tree line.
"Stand down!" I ordered, my voice booming over the sleet.
They didn't flinch. They didn't howl. They spread out, flanking me in a perfect crescent. Feral rogues fought like wild dogs, messy and chaotic. These wolves moved with military precision.
Lightning flashed, illuminating their thick, matted fur. Every single one wore a braided red leather cord tied tight around their throat.
"Red-cord mercenaries," I spat, gripping the horn tighter. "Who bought you?"
The largest wolf, a scarred gray male, shifted his weight. His bones cracked as he morphed into a towering, half-human form.
"You talk too much for a dead Luna," the mercenary growled, wiping rain from his snout.
"Thirty thousand gold coins," I said, recognizing the standard contract rate for a high-ranking assassination. "That is the going rate for your guild, isn't it?"
"Your head is paid for," he sneered. "Nothing personal."
"You think you can take this border?" I challenged, taking a slow step backward.
"We already own it," he replied. "Your alarm is dead. Your guards are asleep. You are entirely alone."
My boots slid on the slick slate. I was running out of ground. The roar of the crashing river echoed hundreds of feet below me.
"Are you boys going to stand there all night?"
A soft, entirely calm voice floated through the storm.
I snapped my gaze down the cliff path.
Lola stood at the edge of the tree line, perfectly sheltered beneath a large black umbrella. She wore her crimson silk dress, untouched by the mud or the wind. She wasn't screaming for help. She wasn't running toward the outpost.
She was just watching me.
"Lola, get inside!" I yelled, though the words tasted like ash in my mouth.
She tilted the umbrella back. A chilling smile spread across her face. It was the look of a customer confirming a shipment had arrived exactly on schedule.
"Why would I run?" Lola asked, her tone conversational, completely at odds with the snarling beasts surrounding me. "The storm provides such excellent cover."
"You jammed the valve," I breathed, staring at her through the rain. "The wood chips. You sent Eli out here as a distraction."
"He is a very useful boy," Lola replied, her smile widening. "Thirty thousand gold is a bargain to finally clean house."
"You brought mercenaries onto pack lands!" I screamed, pointing the horn at her. "You are endangering everyone!"
"They only want you, Wrenna," Lola said, adjusting her silk shawl. "Once you fall, they leave. It is a very simple transaction."
"I paid you for efficiency," Lola added, turning her attention to the gray male. "Push her over."
"We work at our own pace, lady," the mercenary chuckled, stepping closer to me. "Time is up, Luna."
"Damon!" I shrieked, praying my voice would carry to the main hall. "Breach! North Cliff!"
"Wrenna, shut up!" Lola snapped, her calm facade faltering for a fraction of a second.
"Damon!" I yelled again.
The heavy oak doors of the outpost finally burst open.
Damon charged into the storm, his formal clothes soaked instantly. He gripped a silver broadsword, his eyes scanning the darkness.
"What is going on out here?!" Damon yelled.
"Mercenaries!" I shouted, my heel teetering on the crumbling precipice. "They breached the perimeter!"
Damon raised his sword. "Who let them in?!"
"Your precious Lola!" I screamed, pointing at the tree line. "She paid them!"
"Liar!" Lola cried out. She dropped her umbrella and fell to her knees in the mud, wrapping her arms around herself. "Damon, they attacked me! Wrenna led them right to me!"
Damon saw the wolves. He saw the blood pouring down my neck.
Then he looked at Lola, shivering on the wet ground.
"Damon, look at their necks! They are hired killers!" I pleaded, extending my free hand toward him. My boots slipped another inch on the wet stone.
"Lola, hold on!" Damon roared.
"Help me!" I begged.
He didn't run toward the cliff. He didn't charge the wolves threatening his mate.
He threw himself in the opposite direction, sprinting across the mud to tackle Lola to the ground, shielding her under his broad chest.
"Guards!" Damon bellowed over his shoulder, completely ignoring my bleeding form. "Form a defensive wall around Lola! Keep her safe!"
"What about the Luna?!" one of the emerging guards shouted from the doorway.
"Leave her! Protect Lola!" Damon ordered.
He never even looked back at me.
The gray mercenary lunged.
I stepped back to brace for the impact, raising the brass horn to strike.
Empty air met my heel.
The loose slate gave way with a sickening crunch.
"Damon—"
Gravity seized me.
I tipped backward, tumbling over the jagged edge of the North Cliff. The freezing wind roared in my ears, tearing the brass horn from my grip.
My stomach dropped. Absolute darkness swallowed me. The violent motion ripped the wound on my neck wide open, sending a fresh spray of hot blood into the freezing rain.
I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the fatal impact of the river rocks below.
A massive, unfamiliar claw shot out from the rocky overhang, wrapping tight around my wrist and jerking me to a violent halt.
