Darius's POV: I thought the girl who couldn't even awaken her wolf spirit was just bragging. But to my shock, under her steady hands, the car actually roared to life. She steered with one hand, eyes locked on the road ahead. That look—sharp, unshaken—was nothing like an ordinary werewolf. I'd seen the best snipers in the Astralis Empire. They had the same eyes when they locked onto a target. "Hold on tight," she said suddenly. Her tone was firm, almost like an order. It made me frown, but I still grabbed the handle above my head. The moment I held tight, the engine roared. The car hugged the cliffside and swung around the curve in a flawless drift. The force slammed against me so hard I would've been thrown across the seat if I hadn't been holding on.Her wild yet precise driving stunned me. I no longer underestimated this strange girl who had shown up out of nowhere. "Nice skill," I said, trying to sound calm. "Used to escort supplies through the Deadlands," she replied, eyes still forward, hand steady on the wheel. "The Deadlands?" I scoffed. "That's a restricted zone. Even full-blooded wolves can't handle the raging moon energy in there. A kid like you, with no wolf spirit, wouldn't last three minutes. You don't have to make up stories." She only glanced at me, gave no answer, and focused on the road. That's when I noticed it. The back of her head, her shoulders, and her arms were all marked with dried blood. And now, fresh blood was seeping through again. The sharp metallic scent filled the car. I stiffened. "Your injuries—" "Don't worry. I can make it to the last lap," she cut in. She clearly misunderstood me.But when I looked at her determined face, I didn't argue. Instead, something strange stirred inside me. Even though she was covered in blood, she kept control of the car, every move precise. Just like she promised, by the third lap, the cars that had left me far behind finally came into view. This was the last lap of the race. From the finish line, I could hear the shocked gasps of the crowd. "No way! Isn't that Mr. Blackwood's car?" "How is he going that fast? Wasn't he nearly a whole lap behind?" "Holy shit! Did you see that drift? That's insane! How did he manage that?" But their voices were left far behind as we sped past, the roar of the engine swallowing everything else. By now, I didn't care about the race anymore. All my focus was on the girl beside me. The smell of blood in the car grew stronger. Her face was pale, and her lips had turned almost white. If I hadn't known about the deal between us, if I hadn't known she was really alive, I might have thought a ghost was driving my car. Who is she? Why is she in the mountain? Why is she hurt so badly? Question after question raced through my head. I didn't ask a single one, just watched her every move in silence. In that moment of distraction, the car suddenly surged forward. The needle on the speedometer slammed against the edge, threatening to break right through. "Hold on tight," she reminded again. I wouldn't underestimate her. Somehow, I felt like this girl could do anything. Her eyes narrowed. She floored the gas. The steering wheel jerked hard in her hands. The car shot forward a few hundred feet in an instant, flying straight toward the two cars in the lead—my best friends' cars. I heard them gasp in my earpiece."What the heck are you doing? "This is a mountain road! At this speed, you'll kill us all!" Their panicked voices filled the channel, but the girl didn't slow down. Instead, she aimed the car right at the narrow gap between them. "Dammit! Are you crazy?!" One of them yelled. "It's just running around naked. This isn't worth dying over!" "If you want to go down, don't drag us with you!" Their shouting grated on my nerves. I yanked the earpiece out and tossed it aside. Too noisy. I glanced at the girl. She was calm, far too calm for someone about to try a move so insane. I didn't stop her. I only grabbed the handles on both sides of the seat and braced myself. Amid a chorus of terrified screams, the car suddenly tilted sideways, scraping right between the two speeding vehicles with brutal precision. Yes! We scraped through. For a split second, I even saw the flash of sparks.After scraping through that impossibly narrow gap, the car landed hard—but perfectly—right on the finish line. For a few seconds, I couldn't even process what had just happened. Then I heard her voice, faint and weak. "We won." The words barely left her lips before her eyes closed, and her head dropped onto the steering wheel with a dull thud. "Hey! Wake up!" A rush of panic hit me—raw, sharp, and unfamiliar. I'd never felt anything like it before. Inside my mind, Lorcan's voice echoed, his tail lashing anxiously. "Her temperature's falling fast! If she doesn't get treatment soon, she's going to die!" I unbuckled my seatbelt in one motion, jumped out, and lifted her carefully into my arms. Then I laid her in the passenger seat. "Darius? Wait! Weren't you the one driving?" "Who's that girl? What happened to her?" "Move!" I snapped.I didn't have the patience or time to explain. My mind was filled with only one thought. I need to save her. Pushing past my stunned friends, I slid into the driver's seat, started the car, and hit the gas. As I sped down the mountain road, I reached out through the mind-link to my pack's top healer—my closest friend. "Grab your medical kit," I ordered. "Meet me at my estate. Now."