Hades
My muscles tightened, my skin burned, every nerve in my body screaming for the familiar rush of transformation—but it was as if I were pressing against a locked door. My claws didn't break through. My bones didn't yield.
I staggered, clutching at my chest as if sheer will could tear the block apart. "No," I rasped, breath tearing from my throat.
Kael's wolf stared at me, ears pinned back. "Hades?"
Cain's wolf prowled closer, his golden eyes narrowing. His muzzle dipped to sniff, his breath cold against my skin. Then he growled low, the sound rumbling through the clearing.
"It's not wolfsbane," I whispered, horror clawing through me as my throat closed. The air felt heavier, like something pressing from inside and out. "Something's—something's blocking me."
The silence that followed was brutal. Maera's gaze sharpened, torchlight glinting off the scar that split her face. The fugitives behind us began to murmur again, a sea of whispers rising like a tide.
