Her glow pulsed once and then leveled, but the snarl kept coming, a steady reminder she was there to help if I needed her. The show of support bolstered me, and even as my arm muscles trembled with the strain of holding the magic to my skin, I tensed for another blow. Isaac aimed for my soft middle again, not holding back, but blood was rushing in my ears, and I was ready for him. My shaggy forearm batted away his claw, the sound like nails raking a chalkboard, yet somehow over the screech I heard a single word, a thought, really.

“Ellis?”

I shook my head, but the tendril remained. “Graeson?”

The blinding white light I associated with his mental presence splashed red.

Spine stiffening, I spoke aloud. “Graeson?”

“Watch out,” Dell cried.

Too late to duck the blow I hadn’t seen Isaac launch, I grunted when his punch landed, and my teeth clacked together. At least his pinchers had been closed. Knocked backward, I hit the dirt on my butt and brought the tail of my shirt up to wipe my lip. Sparring match or not, he wouldn’t hit me while I was down.

I winced at my tender nose, searching out Dell. “Can you sense Graeson?”

A short pause lapsed while she dug her toes in the dirt. “Yes.”

“What’s wrong with him?” I spat blood. “His light—aura—whatever—it’s wrong. It’s not as bright as it used to be. Was he injured in the hunt?”

Dell shifted her weight onto her heels before slapping the balls of her feet to the ground. “I can’t.”

“Can’t what?” The tug of fear caused the magic to slip away from me, and the pack bond evaporated in a whirl of crimson voices. I pushed to my feet. “What’s going on, Dell?”

“Let it go. Please.” She peered through her lashes at me. “You can’t help him.” Her gaze latched on to Isaac as if he might side with her, but he was Switzerland. “Let’s keep practicing. Or maybe go try some of that soup you were making earlier.”

Things were bad if she was suggesting we all go eat mushy vegetables together.

“Show me,” was all I had to say.

A quiver ran through her. “Screw it,” she muttered, then bolted for the trees.

* * *

Dell sailed through the forest as though she were an extension of it. Limbs glided over her skin to rake mine. Leaves that held their silence in her passing crackled under my feet. Insects chirped as if saying hello, greetings cut short by my passage. The earth and its children were her domain, her presence welcome here. Me, the woods seemed eager to betray with noise and injury.