Diamante shoved me backward with a snarl.

“Run, Domitilla!”

But I couldn’t move. I stood frozen, staring at the snarling wolf facing us red eyes burning with feral hunger.

“I’m not leaving you!” I screamed back.

“I can handle him!” Diamante barked, positioning herself between me and the beast.

Ivano laughed a deep, cruel sound.

“Oh, will you now?” he sneered, tilting his head in mockery. “You don’t need me to shift to rip you apart. You already know how this ...