Despair weighed heavily on Kirastasia’s heart—which was saying something, because the snowbird’s heart was about as substantial as fog. Nothing bothered her for long, no emotion stuck around after its welcome had passed . . . yet for some reason, Kira walked as if marching to her death, her beautiful face a mask of depression. It took too much energy to lift her paws off the earth. Her luminous maple-colored portals couldn’t seem to focus, allowing the forest to pass as a blur of dark dreary colors. A sigh dragged softly from her muzzle, but even making this simple sound appeared to cost the winter queen too much effort. So many different ideas battled for dominance in her head, and the clash of countless worries clearly exhausted her. On the one paw, Kirastasia worried deeply for the health of her darling Kahlan. The earth-colored healer still refused to make eye contact with the brindled brutale, and only spoke to Kira if absolutely necessary. Kah’s disdain for her admirer scalded Kirastasia like boiling water splashing against bare skin. And as if THAT weren’t bad enough, the ivory princess hadn’t seen her soulmate Drizzt in far too long. It had only been a few days . . . perhaps a week . . . except Kira thrived on attention. Living without his kind, lusty gaze made the already spurned woman feel starved for affection. All she wanted was a little love. A little company.

Every day, every hour, for the rest of her life.

A shock of hope zinged through the pale wolfess when she managed to snatch a trace of her Alpha’s perfume—Milo, stalking somewhere through the same space of Fir Chilis. This made sense; they weren’t all that far from Wudubearo, the pack through which most of the woods spilled. “Miss Milo! I wonder if she’d like some company?” Buoyed by a refreshed burst of energy, Kirastasia galloped deeper into the forest, hot on the trail of her favorite little grey-and-white empress. She had just spotted the arctic beauty when a bone-jarring explosion and blinding eruption of light stole the breath from her lungs. The entire world appeared drowned in glitter. A shockwave powerful enough to bend trees backward slammed into Milo—and then Kira—and then the fishnet punkette was collapsed on the grass and pine needles, utterly unprepared for what was to come.