Elias's POV
The shadows hit us like a fucking freight train.
No time to think, no time to plan, just pure instinct taking over as the first ever shadow lycan's attack slammed into us. I shifted mid-dodge, feeling my bones crack and reform, fur sprouting as my Alpha form took over. The shadows passed through where I had been standing, leaving frost and decay on the cave floor.
"Scatter!" I roared, but everyone was already moving.
That's when I saw him properly. Lucian.
"Fuck!" The word tore from my throat as rage consumed me. He was barely recognizable, skin pale as death, those distinctive white streaks in his hair matted with blood. The symbols carved into his chest were still bleeding, and his violet eyes were glazed, unfocused. They had tortured him. Used him. Bled him like a fucking animal.
"You bastards!" I snarled at Fenris, my voice more growl than words. "What did you do to him?"
