ログインMason personally led the recovery team.Grayson went with him.So did Elias.Nobody tried stopping either of them.The morning sky was gray when they reached the road. The smell hit first.Blood.Death.Smoke.Savannah had smelled enough battlefields to recognize all three immediately.Still, nothing prepared her for what waited beyond the tree line.Twelve bodies.Every one dressed in the dark silver armor of the Keepers. Every one, suspended from ancient oak trees.Crucified.Savagely.Deliberately.The Prophet hadn't simply killed them.He had displayed them.Sentinels moved quietly between the trees, cutting down bodies one by one.Nobody spoke.Not even Hugh.Elias stood perfectly still.Savannah watched him carefully.The First Keeper looked carved from stone. But his hands were shaking.Beside him, Lucas whispered something in the old tongue.A prayer.Perhaps a goodbye.Grayson stopped beneath the nearest tree. The Keeper hanging there couldn't have been older than thirty.His
Everyone remained frozen in stunned silence.The Southern Council.The Prophet.Together!!.Even saying it aloud felt wrong.Lucas looked like someone had punched him in the chest."Impossible," he whispered.Elias slowly turned toward him. "Apparently not.""No." Lucas shook his head. "You don't understand.The Southern Council spent decades trying to destroy the Prophet. They lost thousands of wolves fighting him.""People change," Mason said grimly."Not that much."Lucas looked genuinely disturbed."The Council considers the Prophet a fanatic. A heretic.""Then why join him?" Savannah asked.Nobody answered.Because nobody knew.And that frightened everyone.Mason was the first to recover."How long?"The scout swallowed."Our eastern patrol intercepted a courier less than an hour ago. According to the message, the Southern Council's delegation
Nobody moved.Nobody breathed.The howls kept coming.They rolled down from the mountains in endless waves, shaking the valley beneath them. Every wolf in the courtyard stood frozen, staring toward the ridgelines.Eyes.Thousands of glowing eyes.Watching.Waiting.Savannah felt Grayson move beside her.Not much.Just enough for his body to shift instinctively between her and the mountains.Protective.Automatic.She barely noticed.Lucas had gone pale.Actually pale.The calm, unreadable man who had walked into Reed Territory without an army, without fear, without hesitation, looked terrified.Mason saw it immediately."What is that?" the old Alpha demanded.Lucas didn't answer.His gray eyes remained fixed on the mountains."No," he whispered again.A horn suddenly echoed across the ridges.Deep.Ancient.Nothing like the horns of Ree
The second impact nearly tore the gates off their hinges. The entire manor shook.Dust rained from the ceiling.Outside, wolves were shouting.Running. Weapons clashed.And somewhere in the middle of the chaos, a horn blasted across the valley.Not a Reed horn.Not a Black Ridge horn.Something older and ancient.Something deeper.Something that seemed to vibrate through bone.The Sentinel standing in the doorway looked like he was struggling to breathe."They're here."Nobody needed clarification anymore.“The Sovereign.”The name alone had transformed the room.Moments ago they had been discussing him. Now he was at the gates. Savannah's stomach twisted. Everything was happening too fast.Mason moved first.Of course he did.The old Alpha grabbed his coat and headed for the door."Everyone outside."No one argued.Within seconds the war r
The rider knelt in the dirt.Blood covered his clothes.His horse had collapsed behind him.And the words he had spoken seemed to suck all the air from the courtyard.“Blackwater has fallen.The Northern Council is dead.The Sovereign is coming.”Silence stretched.Heavy.The Prophet stood perfectly still.For the first time since his arrival, he looked uncertain.Not weak.Not defeated.Just caught off guard.And somehow that frightened Savannah more than anything else.Because men like him weren't supposed to be surprised.Mason noticed it too.The old Alpha stepped forward slowly."What does that mean?"The rider looked exhausted.Broken and terrified.His eyes found the Prophet.Then immediately dropped to the ground.Like looking directly at the man hurt."The Council is gone."His voice cracked."All of them."Nobody moved.Frank looked stunned.Actually stunned.Like a man who had just heard the moon had fallen out of the sky.Damon frowned."What happened?"The rider swallowed
The blade moved.A thin line of blood ran down Ethan's neck.The entire courtyard exploded.Damon lunged.Three Sentinels grabbed him.Barely.The Beta roared so violently that several younger wolves flinched."Ethan!"The boy fought against the wolves holding him."Dad!"The Prophet didn't even blink.He simply stood there watching.Calm and patient.Like a man observing a storm from behind glass.Savannah felt rage burn through her chest.Every instinct she possessed screamed at her to move.To attack.To do something.But she couldn't.Nobody could.Because one wrong move would get Ethan killed. The realization sat like poison in her stomach.Beside her, Grayson looked carved from stone.No emotion.No movement.Nothing.That frightened her more than Damon losing control.Because Savannah knew Grayson.Knew him better than almost anyone.And she knew exactly what happened when he became this quiet.He was thinking.Calculating.Preparing.The Prophet's eyes never left him."Now you
The room didn’t recover from the words.The Sentinel was still standing in the doorway, breathing like he had run through fire just to deliver them.“…they’ll send Ethan’s head instead.”It hung there.Ugly. Clean. Final.
Frank's words seemed to hang above the war room long after he said them."Because there was never supposed to be another survivor."The storm outside crashed against the manor windows.Thunder rolled through the valley.Still nobody moved.Nobody breathed.Savannah looked at Frank.Then at Grayson.
Savannah noticed that Grayson had stopped letting her out of his sight.Not completely.Not in an obvious way.But enough.Enough that she noticed.Enough that it annoyed her.The realization hit sometime around breakfast.She left the dining roo
The next morning felt strange.Not bad.Just strange.Savannah noticed it the moment she opened her eyes, beaming with smiles.The manor looked the same.The valley looked the same.The mountains still stood against the horizon.Nothing had changed.







