Epilogue
The moon was high over the valley, its pale light stretching long shadows out across the forest floor. Sommy stood on the edge of the cliff, the wind tangling through her hair, her body still humming from all that had happened. Beside her, Buchi was quiet, solid and comforting as ever, yet something, some dark thing, hovered in the air. It was going to be a very long night indeed.
His hand reached for hers, his fingers brushing the back of her palm and sending a shiver up her spine. "We're not done yet, Sommy."
His voice was low-a whisper of danger wrapped in the familiar warmth of his breath. She looked up at him, eyes narrowed, trying to make sense of the growing tension.
"What do you mean?" she asked, a thread of doubt creeping into her voice.
Immediately, Buchi didn't say anything. His eyes raked at the darkened woods where trees stood like silent sentinels with twisted and gnarled branches. The air was thick with an unsettling quiet-too quiet. He could feel it-the gnawing feeling that something wasn't right, that someone wasn't quite done with them yet.
His eyes met hers, and for a second, something primal flashed in those eyes. "I can feel it. It's still out there.".
Sommy shivered; her skin prickling as she turned to scan the forest around them. They were no longer alone. The sound of footsteps approached-slow, deliberate, as if the forest itself was closing in around them.
A figure stepped out of the shadows-a woman, draped in shadows, her face obscured by the long, tangled hair that fell like a veil over her features.
Sommy's breath caught. She knew that scent, the sickly sweet undertone that made her stomach twist. Ama.
But something was wrong. Ama's once-weak, submissive posture had hardened. Her eyes, empty black pits now, bored into Sommy with an intensity that sent chills crawling down her spine. Her mouth curled into a smile-too wide, too unnatural.
"I see you two are still playing your little game," Ama's voice slithered through the air, cold as ice. "But you've been playing the wrong one all along."
Before Sommy could react, Ama lunged. In an instant, Buchi shifted, his massive wolf form erupting from his skin with terrifying speed. But Ama was faster—too fast. Her fingers elongated, claws gleaming in the moonlight, and she reached for Sommy's throat.
Claws in flesh. Sommy gasped, struggling for breath as Ama's hand tightened around her neck. The world spun as fear sliced through her veins, her body locked in a battle between flight and fight.
She could feel the dark power radiating from Ama, a power twisted by something unnatural.
Then, a roar from Buchi rent the night, a savage sound that shook the very air. Ama's grip loosened for just a moment, and that was all Sommy needed.
With a surge of strength, Sommy grabbed Ama's wrist and twisted it, forcing the woman to release her. A sharp crack echoed as Ama's bones snapped.
Without much ado, Sommy clenched his fist and rammed it into Ama's chest, the coldness of her bones through flesh, the shattering of her heart with that blow.
Ama opened her mouth in a hoarse guttural scream, collapsing on the ground, but she still wasn't done.
From the shade of the trees, a horde of figures emerged: soulless eyes, twisted bodies, the remnants of Ama's pack, now no more than hollow mockeries of what they once were.
They were still hungry.
Buchi growled, snapping at the nearest creature, but he was one against many. Sommy's body burned with an insatiable rage. The urge to fight, to claim her space, to protect her mate-it tore through her.
Her skin burned as her wolf rose to the threat, a response of raw fury.
The battle was chaos: screams and growls, a sickening sound of bone snapping filled the night. Sommy's instincts were razor-sharp; each move a deadly dance. Yet still they came, though her claws ripped through fallen bodies of wolves.
It was Buchi's low growl that brought her back to him. She looked at him just in time to see him tear through the last of their attackers, his fangs covered in blood.
But his eyes were haunted. We're not safe. Ama was gone, but her pack… they weren't human anymore.
Buchi stepped toward Sommy, blood dripping from his muzzle. He looked her over, his gaze softening when he saw the raw determination in her eyes.
But there was a darkness there too, something he hadn't seen before. It was there in her hunger. She was no longer just the woman he loved.