Chapter 45

Maeve’s POV

“Run! Sweetheart, run!” A woman’s voice thundered in my ears, yanking me from the fray erupting around me.

I lay sprawled on the sodden ground, warriors in human and lupine forms throwing themselves against snarling rogues whose rank stench burned my nostrils.

My eyes snapped to the woman who battled at a distance. Her electric-blue gaze swung to me as she parried a vicious wolf’s pounce. Curly brown hair cascaded around her face, and for a fraction of a heartbeat, I saw stark fear in those brilliant eyes.

“Mother!” I whispered, disbelief shivering through me.

More wolves lunged for her—jaws tearing through the air—and she followed my panicked stare. Delicate fingers sliced through the gloom as she murmured an incantation. I heard necks snap like dry twigs; the wolves crumpled into the blood-spattered earth.

“Run!” Her cry was urgent, raw.

I pushed up, legs trembling beneath me. Confusion clutched at my mind as I stared