"It's an advanced mana beast," Noah muttered.
The words had barely left his mouth when the alpha threw its head back and howled.
The sound tore through the forest with the clean authority of a command that the rest of the pack had been waiting for, and they moved the moment it peaked — launching forward from their positions with the coordinated acceleration of animals that had done this many times before.
Paws hit the ground in rapid succession, brown and white bodies cutting through the undergrowth, fangs already visible, the small horns above their eyes beginning to gather mana in the faint visible shimmer that preceded a coordinated attack.
Kael was already moving.
He shot forward to meet them at a speed that made the charging wolves look considered by comparison, his wings driving him ahead with the sharp, committed energy of a creature that had taken the charge as a personal affront.
