Chapter 76- The Beast Beneath the Crown

Bjorn POV

The beast wakes before I do.

I know this because the first thing I feel every morning is not thought, but hunger. Not for food. For dominance. For violence. For the urge to tear something apart simply to prove that I can.

My claws gouge into stone before my mind catches up.

I inhale sharply, forcing my fingers to loosen, watching the rock crumble beneath my grip. The mountain air burns my lungs, cold and clean, but it does nothing to quiet ...