Page 129 of Iron Beneath the Snow

They collided mid-descent, their bodies slamming into snow and stone with enough force to send ice scattering outward as they rolled, momentum carrying them through impact into a violent struggle for position.

Fangs met resistance; the other wolf snapped back hard enough to catch Soren’s shoulder, teeth breaking skin and drawing blood that steamed briefly against the cold.

The pain registered and passed without slowing him.

He drove the other wolf into the ground, claws digging through hide and into muscle, anchoring him there as the grey wolf twisted beneath the pressure, no longer attempting to counterattack so much as to break free.

The grey wolf broke first, shifting back beneath him in a violent rearrangement of bone and breath, abandoning the form that no longer offered escape.

Soren followed a moment later without releasing his hold.

The man coughed against the snow, blood darkening one corner of his mouth.

“Alive,” he managed. “I can tell you—”

Soren’s grip tightened.

Killing him would have required almost nothing.

He did not.

“How did you reach the east wing?”

The man’s expression changed.

Barely.

Enough.

“You still think we came through your watch?”

Soren went still.

The man’s hand moved beneath him.

Too fast for surrender.

Metal flashed between his fingers.

Soren caught the motion as the blade came up toward his ribs. He turned with it, drove the man back into the snow, and ended the movement before it could become a second strike.

Bone gave beneath his hand.

This time, he did not stop.

For a moment, he remained over the body, breathing hard as the heat beneath his skin refused to recede.

Then the scent shifted.

He caught it immediately.

Her.

Closer than she should have been.

Chapter 35: No Containment

Eira