We burst out of the castle, our suspicions confirmed as an arrow whizzes through the air, aimed directly at Nickolas. He snatches it out of the air before it can pierce his flesh, but the contact burns his skin, the telltale sign of Oak Tree venom. Lord Easterlin is really here, and the battle has begun.

Nickolas tosses the arrow aside, his eyes flashing with rage as he moves toward the lycan who fired it, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. With a snarl, he plunges his hand into the ...