Chapter 194. Apex Unleashed

Eryndor’s POV

I knelt on one leg, holding the blade’s tip against his forehead. “Wait—before I do this, tell me… what’s your name?” I asked, addressing my inner wolf. He grinned at me, that sly half-smile I knew too well. “You should know, Henry. You literally call yourself that, and everyone else does, too.” In that moment I understood.

“Now do it. Let’s keep walking together, Henry. I can’t die here.” I returned his smile and whispered, “I feel the same way, Eryndor,” speaking his true name—then drove the knife through his skull.

In an instant, his body fused with Venator, my hunter’s knife. The blade warped under the surge of energy, reshaping itself as a fierce purple glow ignited along its edge. Light flooded out, blinding and bright, and swallowed me whole. Everything vanished.

I jolted awake. Theron’s boots clattered on the cavern floor as he strode toward me—until he froze at the sight of me stirring. I struggled upright, the knife still embedd