Chapter 10 · Beast Mode

"Get back, Sloane! Now!"

Kaelen didn't just shout; he roared. The sound wasn't human. It was a vibration that rattled the teeth in my skull and sent a shockwave through the damp floor of the alley. Before I could even blink, he launched himself forward, a blur of silver and violence.

He didn't use a weapon. He didn't need one. He slammed into the first Imperial soldier with enough force to crack the stone wall behind the man. There was a sickening *crunch*—the sound of a ribcage giving way—and the soldier was gone, pinned like a bug against the masonry.

"Kaelen, stop!" I screamed, my voice sounding thin and pathetic against the carnage.

He didn't hear me. Or he didn't care. He was a whirlwind of precision and cruelty. He caught the second soldier by the throat, his fingers digging into the flesh with a grip that would have crushed a pipe. He didn't just kill him; he dismantled him. A snap of the neck, a brutal twist, and the man dropped like a sack of wet laundry.

I stepped forward, my boots splashing in a puddle that was rapidly turning crimson. "Kaelen! Look at me!"

He spun around.