Max's POV
The world disappeared behind a wall of screaming wind and blinding white.
Darkness swallowed the sky without warning. One moment there was crackling fire and fighting Alphas, then everything dissolved into madness.
Wind cut through me like frozen blades. Tree limbs flew overhead like missiles. Dirt swirled in violent tornadoes around us. This wasn't just weather. This was nature declaring war.
Alpha Mateo shoved me under the rocky ledge near the hillside before I could react. His nerves were already frayed from worrying about Mariyah, who had stubbornly refused to evacuate with the others back to the Academy.
I had no choice but to comply. No strength to fight back.
No way to see anything.
My eyelids slammed shut against the hurricane of debris and ash tearing through the air. Each breath tasted like dirt. The wind drowned out every other sound. My palms scraped against stone as I hunched beneath the overhang, ignoring the sharp pain.
