Page 6 of The Moonborn's Curse

"Get your hides home," Garrik ordered, his voice sharp as steel. "Before I decide which of you to throw to the Highclaw first."

All three boys groaned.

A look from Garrik silenced them instantly.

"And be at the training field at dawn," he added, his tone leaving no room for argument.

They groaned again, louder this time.

"Shut it," Garrik snapped. "You're lucky I'm not dragging you there now."

The boys exchanged a long-suffering glance, but they knew better than to argue.

Garrik glared at them once more, then his expression twisted in disgust. "Why didn't you use the tribelink, you idiots?"

Silence.

Hagan exchanged a guilty glance with Dain and Veyr.

"...We, uh, didn't think of it," Veyr muttered.

Garrik let out a low, dangerous growl.

"You didn't think?" His voice was pure steel. "You have the strongest communication gift a wolf can have, and you didn't use it when you were being hunted?"

"...We thought we could handle it," Hagan admitted.

Garrik looked like he was considering throwing him into the nearest tree.

"You thought," he repeated flatly.

The three boys nodded weakly.

"Don't think. Learn." Garrik's voice dropped to a lethal growl. "Or next time, you won't make it back to regret it."

Hagan swallowed hard.

"Training. Field. Dawn."

They nodded.

"Now get out of my sight before I change my mind and tell the Highclaw myself."

Just as they turned to run, a whimper sounded from the shadows.

A woman, pressed against the base of a tree, her arms wrapped protectively around a small figure.

Her hair was tangled gold, her face was streaked with dirt.

But it was not her that stole his breath.

It was the child she shielded—a girl their age, trembling, her eyes like a brewing storm.

For a moment, everything else faded.

The fear, the chase, the burning in his lungs.

Because she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

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