Chapter 20. Capture of the Silver Blade

Celeste’s POV

Nyra’s urgent whisper snapped me out of my stunned silence. “Celeste, did you just see that?” she asked, her eyes wide in disbelief. I shook my head slowly, still trying to process the sight before me. “He moved so fast…almost as fast as—” I began, only for Nora to cut me off with a sharp glare. “Don’t you dare say it,” she growled. She hated even the suggestion that someone could rival her speed.

On the forest floor, one of our pack members lay bleeding, his breaths coming in shallow gasps. The hunter’s blade had pierced his knee, and now he stabbed again, twisting the knife wickedly.

“Aaaah! Stoppp!” the wounded man cried, pain radiating through his every syllable.

I focused on the hunter’s sword. It wasn’t forged from ordinary iron; a soft, spectral silver glow clung to its edge. I’d never encountered a weapon like it. Before I could share my observation, another of our pack—an unfamiliar face—leapt forward and smacked the hunter squa