Elias's POV
Rex's muscles screamed in protest as we circled my father's lycan again, our paws slipping slightly on the blood-slicked leaves beneath us. My father's lycan, Titan, was everything mine wasn't. Where Rex was built for speed and agility, Titan was pure, brutal power. Decades of fighting experience rippled through every calculated movement.
We can't win this, Rex growled in my mind, even as we lunged forward again, desperate to keep Titan from pursuing Maeve. He's too strong.
We don't need to win, I thought back frantically. We just need to buy her time.
Titan's jaws snapped where Rex's throat had been a heartbeat before. We twisted away, but not fast enough. His massive fangs sank into Rex's shoulder, piercing through muscle and scraping against bone.
Rex whimpered, the sound high and pained, echoing through the forest. The agony was blinding, hot blood pouring from the wound, matting our fur. But we couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop.
