The battlefield was eerily silent after the chaos. Bodies of fallen warriors and twisted rogue corpses littered the blood-soaked ground. Smoke curled into the dusk sky, and the metallic tang of blood hung thick in the air.

But the worst sound was the silence from the bond. Celeste was gone.

Hunter stood frozen in the heart of the battlefield, unmoving as if carved from stone. His chest heaved with shallow, ragged breaths. Rogue paced and snarled inside him, thrashing violently, a beast ...