Darian raised his bow. “Fall back! We can’t hold this pack. Form for retreat.” His gaze swept to Lily and the twins. “Protect the probationers. Do you hear me? Protect them.”

  Lily bristled. She could obviously protect herself, but the captain’s orders allowed no argument. She exhaled through her nose and held back her breath.

  The twins tensed, ready to argue, but the alpha’s roar drowned them out.

  Darian loosed another arrow onto the string, never breaking stride. “Finn. With me. Drop as many as you can before they can reach us.”

  The marrow-hounds surged down.

  Darian’s bow sang, dropping two beasts. Finn’s crossbow fired quickly. Together, their shots landed, but more hounds crested the ridge like waves. The survivors bared their teeth as they closed in.

  Garric’s spear slammed into its chest, pinning it to the ground.

  Kellen, standing left of Garric, snapped his whipchain out with a crack, coiling around a beast’s ribs before he yanked it, thrashing into the dirt.

  Brennar swung Rosethorn, smashing a hound’s skull. He turned, his axe sinking into another’s shoulder. His thin body shook, but he didn’t stop.

  “Back! Fall back!” Darian was already turning toward the slope.

  The squad followed him. Then the bell rang. Rowan’s trap.

  The sound froze them in place near the slope and the treeline. From the brush ahead, more eyes gleamed. Shapes poured in from behind and from both flanks, surrounding them near the cliff’s edge in a ring of growls and snapping jaws.

  Garric dragged in a breath. “We’re surrounded.”

  Darian didn’t hesitate. “Then fight. Fight until there’s an opening to run!”

  The marrow-hounds leapt.

  Garric braced, his spear whirling in a wide arc, each thrust driving beasts back.

  “Come on then, you mangy bastards!” Kellen roared, his chain lashing out, hooks ripping into hides and dragging beasts down.

  Finn fired in quick succession, each bolt precise, even as sweat slicked his brow.

  Rowan’s knives flashed, slashing legs and eyes, dodging jaws with foxlike quickness.

  The twins fought wildly. Jaro swung his short sword with awkward force. Teren shot shaky arrows up close. Brave, but the number of enemies was overwhelming.

  Jaro’s boot caught Rowan’s tripline cord. He pitched forward, cloak tangling. Before he could scramble up, a marrow-hound lunged, teeth sinking into his cloak and dragging him back. “Teren!” he shrieked, thrashing.

  Without hesitation, Teren threw his bow aside and leapt, his fangs bared. He sank them into the beast’s neck with a feral snarl. The marrow-hound yelped, bucking wildly, and flung Teren hard into the rocks. He crashed, bruises already blooming, scratches carved across his arms.

  And Lily, Lily fought like fire herself. Her sword slashed one hound in half, her boot shattered another’s jaw, her blade split a skull before it reached Brennar’s side. Then her eyes caught the twins. Jaro dragged down, Teren slammed against the stone.

  “Shit!” she broke through the press. She ripped one beast off Jaro and slammed another into the dirt before it could gut Teren.

  For each beast Lily dropped, more closed in. The squad was starting to break.

  Kellen cursed as teeth tore into his thigh, nearly severing it. Blood poured down his leg, his face twisted with pain as he dragged the beast loose.

  Finn stumbled, a marrow-hound slamming him down. He fired point-blank, killing it, but the impact snapped his arm. His scream cut the din.

  Rowan darted past, blades flashing, until one beast bit down on his arm. He pulled free with a hiss, blood running from his wounds.

  Brennar grunted as claws raked his shoulder, Rosethorn still swinging as blood ran down his arm.

  Garric drove his spear deep into a chest, but not before another’s claws tore across his side, cutting through leather and skin alike.

  The twins were pushed back to the cliff’s edge, bruised, bleeding, yelling in defiance, but slipping on loose stone.

  Lily gritted her teeth. Enough. Too many of her friends were being ripped apart. Anger flared. She threw a beast off Finn and kicked another from Garric’s shield. Each hit was hard and angry. She was done watching them fall.

  Still, they struggled. Her hands tightened because she couldn’t save everyone. No matter how fast she fought, more kept coming. There was only one way to stop it. She stared at the alpha. If she killed it, the pack would run.

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  Darian loosed another shaft, and then another but the alpha crashed through, arrows snapping uselessly against its scarred hide. In the next breath, it slammed him hard against the rocks. His bow splintered. Claws ripped across his chest, deep and vicious, blood gushing. He staggered, barely standing as the beast lunged for his throat.

  Lily saw everything and she couldn’t take it anymore.

  Her sword dropped as she reacted on instinct, leaping barehanded at the beast with a wild roar. The alpha’s stench hit her hard, thick and sour, making it hard to breathe. She grabbed its huge jaws, fingers digging into slippery skin, hot spit burning her hands. Its breath was rotten. Her arms trembled with effort, muscles burning as venom seared through her veins.

  For a moment, she thought it would crush her that her strength would finally run out. But she clenched her teeth, took another painful breath, and kept pushing. Stopping meant dying and she wasn’t ready for that.

  Inch by inch, she opened the beast’s mouth wider, its shrieks splitting the night.

  The marrow-hounds froze at the sound.

  With a violent wrench, Lily snapped its jaw.

  The crack echoed off the cliffs.

  The alpha collapsed lifeless at her feet.

  The rest of the pack whimpered, tails tucked, before scattering into the shadows.

  Silence fell. The clearing reeked of blood and guts. The ground was littered with corpses. Only rough breathing and hiss of cooling blood could be heard.

  The squad stood or staggered stunned.

  Jaro’s eyes were wide as saucers, blood smeared across his cheek. “Did you see that? She kicked three of ’em like they were puppies!”

  Teren, bruised and scratched raw, nodded furiously, wiping blood from his mouth. “And she grabbed that alpha, bare hands! Snapped its jaw like nothing? I’ll never forget it. She’s stronger than all of us put together.”

  Finn cradled his broken arm to his chest, grinning crookedly through the pain. “I could’ve sworn a goddess dropped from the cliffs and saved us.”

  Brennar let out a long breath, Rosethorn sagging in his hands. He paused to brush flecks of blood from his scarf, wincing as his shoulder throbbed. His gaze shifted to Lily, pausing on the spot where the alpha’s venom had splashed her skin. “Lily! Are you okay?”

  But then, as always, her pain faded, leaving faster than it should have. The burning in her veins eased to a subtle pulse, then to a dull ache under her skin. In minutes, it was just a memory. Usually, she never wondered why. Still, a question sometimes hovered, what made her different? How could she heal so quickly? That uncertainty was like a shadow, one she could never quite grasp, but it rarely troubled her for long. She had always been this way, and she accepted it as part of who she was. She took a slow breath and made an effort to relax. The trembling in her hands faded, though a bit of sting still rested in her bones. Lily gave a small smile, hiding what was left of her discomfort. "I'm alright, Brennar. Don’t worry about me," she assured him despite the pain. "We need to check your shoulder and the rest of you before you all bleed out." She said it easily, as she always did. Because by then, the pain was really gone. Or at least, she had learned to hide it well.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” she replied firmly.

  Only then did Brennar kneel, unpacking neat rolls of bandages and jars of ointment with careful hands, every movement calm as if the chaos hadn’t touched him at all. “I carry a few things.” He knelt beside the kit. “For when it goes bad.” Pressed the kit into Lily’s hands. “Help the captain first. I’ll see to the others.”

  Lily took it right away.

  Brennar nodded, already beside Kellen, whose leg was soaked red. The ox-like fighter clenched his teeth so hard his jaw jumped, groaning as Brennar bound the wound tight.

  Garric, bleeding from the side, gave Lily a firm nod. “Truth is, without you, we’d be carcasses alongside them.”

  Rowan whistled low, clutching his bloodied arm where teeth had torn flesh. “I’m never sparring with you, Holloway. I quite like my limbs attached.”

  “Keep talking and I’ll break the other one,” Lily shot back teasingly.

  Rowan chuckled under his breath, then winced.

  Darian, still half-pinned against the rocks, tunic torn, forced himself upright. His bow lay shattered. He swayed, bracing one hand against the stone, blood sheeting from his chest. He looked at Lily. “You saved us. You saved me.”

  Lily didn’t answer at first. She dropped to her knees beside him, ripping open Brennar’s bandages. When she reached for him, his hand shot up, blocking her. “Don’t.”

  Her glare could cut the stone. “Set your pride aside. You’ll bleed out before we get halfway back to the guild.”

  “I can manage—”

  “Hold still,” she snapped, ripping his tunic open before pressing the cloth hard to his chest. “You may be captain, but right now you’re just a man spilling into the dirt. I’m not letting you die in front of me.”

  His jaw tightened, but he didn’t stop her as she bound the wound tight. He hissed between his teeth when she cinched the cloth tight.

  “Stop moving.” Her hands didn’t waver. “I’ve patched worse.”

  He didn’t argue. His gaze held on her hands, then flicked up, met hers and slid away. “You’ve done this before?”

  “Plenty of times. My father made sure I knew how.” She didn’t look up.

  Around them, the others tended wounds in their own way.

  Garric steadied Rowan’s torn arm while he whimpered like a fox caught in a snare.

  Brennar wrapped Kellen’s thigh carefully, quietly reassuring him while Kellen cursed loudly, almost like a drunk in a bar.

  The twins returned, drinking water, limping, bruised, and scratched, still bickering about who fought harder.

  Finn, pale and clutching his splinted arm, bragged about the shots he landed before everything went wrong.

  At last, Lily tied the final knot and sat back. “That’ll hold until the Guild’s healer sees you. Don’t be an idiot and tear it open again.”

  Darian gave a slight nod.

  She rose, surveying them all.

  They stood in silence, covered in blood and shaken. Some leaned on their weapons, others on each other. No one had escaped injury, the metallic tang of blood clung to them. But they were alive.

  Her arms still shook a little, though she hid it well. Keeping her feelings inside had taken more strength than she wanted to show. But she wouldn’t let them see how hard it was, how every breath felt like fire. “You’re all a mess.” Her eyes swept over them. “We’re going back. None of you is ready to keep going. The guild can fix you up right.”

  Jaro shuffled in with the bucket, looking sheepish. “So we’re not hunting more?”

  Teren smacked the back of his twin’s temple. “Idiot. Did you not just—”

  “She’s right.” Garric straightened with effort. “Back to the guild. Before the scavenging birds find us first.”

  Finn groaned, holding his splinted arm. “Fine. But I’m telling the first tavern girl I see that I landed the killing blow.”

  Rowan scoffed. “You’ll be lucky to lift a mug tonight.”

  Even Kellen gave a small laugh, though it ended in a painful cough.

  Lily sheathed her sword with a final click. “Let’s move out.”

  And they obeyed, limping, bloodied, but alive. This time, Lily walked in the center, not on the edge.

  Darian, though swaying, kept his pace beside her. He said nothing more, but the look he gave her as the sun dipped low was different, guarded still, but no longer distant.

  She earned his respect.

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