The Rejected True Heiress (Liora) novel Chapter 117

Liora

I didn’t fall asleep so much as sink into it, like being pulled under by a current I didn’t see coming.

And then I was running.

The air in my lungs burned, the forest ahead blurring into streaks of black and silver. Branches tore at my sleeves, my feet striking earth that gave way beneath me with each stride. Somewhere ahead, I could hear her, my wolf not in words, but in the rhythmic thud of paws, the echo of her breath, the way the night itself seemed to move for her.

She didn’t look back. But she howled my howl. One I missed.

I pushed harder. My boots slipped over moss-slick stone, but I caught myself, using the momentum to launch forward. Moonlight spilled across her fawn coat, turning the tips of her fur silver. She was fast, but not faster than me. Not when I wanted this badly enough.

“Wait!” My voice broke in the dream, raw and desperate.

She didn’t.

I broke into the clearing just as the ground tilted under me, not a cliff, but something worse. A shadow detached itself from the treeline, massive and solid, the air shifting with the low rumble of a growl.

Another wolf. He was huge, dark, those stormy eyes ones I recognized instantly.

His weight slammed into me before I could think. The impact knocked the air from my lungs, pinning me hard against the cold earth. Claws pressed into my shoulders. His teeth were white and sharp and far too close, catching the moonlight like polished bone.

I twisted, trying to break free, but his jaw closed over the side of my neck, not to kill, but to mark. The pain shot white-hot, flooding through my veins until I couldn’t tell if I was shaking from fear or rage. Somewhere beyond him, my wolf stood in the clearing, watching me. Still not coming closer. Still not saving me.

And then she turned and bolted away.

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