The agony tore through Kolton's body like molten steel, blurring his vision until the world became nothing but hazy shapes and shadows. His knees buckled beneath him, and his heart stuttered in his chest, each beat weaker than the last. The life was draining from him with every passing second.
He crumpled to the forest floor, his body hitting the earth with a dull thud. Brennan and Alvin's anguished cries pierced the air as they watched their friend slip away before their eyes. Their howls echoed through the trees, raw with desperation and fear.
But then another sound cut through their grief - a low, tortured whimper that didn't come from Kolton. A few feet away, Kirk lay in his wolf form, his massive body wracked with the same deadly poison coursing through his veins.
Blood seeped from multiple wounds across his silver coat, pooling beneath him in crimson puddles. His powerful frame trembled violently as the toxin ravaged his system, each breath more labored than the last.
