***BLAKE***

Derrick turned his back. Not with urgency. Not with fear. Just that arrogant, unhurried confidence—like he’d merely stopped by to buy sugar, not threaten my entire pack and walk away with my dignity crushed in his palm.

The other two vampires followed behind him, steps soft, shadows slipping between the trees until the forest swallowed them whole.

Only when they were gone did the night feel like it exhaled.

I didn’t.

Tricia dropped to her knees beside me the second Derrick ...