로그인The last follower between me and W lunged with a snarl.I sidestepped and drove my blade across his chest. He fell into the dirt.Breathing hard, I lifted my gaze. W stood exactly where they had been moments before – still. Watching. Waiting.The cemetery had descended into chaos around us. Wolves fought among broken headstones. The air rang with steel, snarls, and screams. Yet somehow, the hooded figure remained untouched. As though the battle revolved around them. As though they had known this moment was coming."Selene!" Kael's voice cut through the noise. He was forcing his way through a cluster of followers, his sword flashing beneath the moonlight. "Wait for me!"I shook my head. I couldn't. Not now. Not when W was finally standing in front of me.The gold around my wrist flared brighter. Heat surged through my veins. I charged.---W moved for the first time. A blade slid from beneath the dark cloak – curved, black, ancient. The metal seemed to drink the moonlight instead of re
The carved wolf dug into my palm when I opened my eyes.For a moment, I lay still in the darkness, staring at the ceiling while dread settled over my chest.Today.The full moon would rise tonight. Everything we had prepared for. Everything we had feared. Everything would come to a head before dawn returned.I sat up slowly and looked down at the small wooden wolf resting in my hand. The edges were worn smooth from months of carrying it. My father's final gift. My reminder. My promise.Outside my window, the sky was still black. Dawn hadn't arrived yet. Neither had peace.I dressed quickly in dark clothes and strapped my blade to my thigh. The metal felt cold against my skin.When I stepped into the hallway, the pack house was unnaturally quiet. Not asleep. Waiting. The silence felt heavier than any howl.---The main hall was dimly lit. A few wolves moved through the shadows, checking weapons, exchanging quiet words, preparing for whatever came next.At the center of the room stood K
The gray light creeping through my window felt colder than usual.I woke with the carved wolf clutched against my chest so tightly my fingers ached. For a moment, I stayed still beneath the blankets, listening to the silence inside the pack house. No laughter in the halls. No clatter from the kitchens. Just quiet footsteps and distant voices kept low, as if speaking too loudly might summon disaster faster.Two days. Only two days until the full moon.I exhaled slowly and sat up. My muscles still protested from the mountains, from the mine, from everything that had happened since Nyra's capture. Bruises bloomed dark across my ribs. Thin scars crossed my hands where stone had scraped skin raw. But there wasn't time to feel any of it.I placed the carved wolf carefully on the windowsill. Then I dressed.---The training yard echoed with the sound of blades colliding when I stepped outside.Warriors moved in coordinated formations across the frost-covered ground while Kael stalked between
Gray light filtered through the thin curtains when I opened my eyes.For a moment, I didn't move. The carved wolf rested in my hands, its smooth wooden edges warm from being held too tightly through the night. I stared at it while silence pressed against the room like a weight.Not peace. Never peace.The pack house felt wrong after the ambush. Too still. Too careful. Like everyone was waiting for the next blade to fall.I pushed myself upright slowly, my body aching from yesterday's fight. My shoulder protested as I pulled on a dark shirt and laced my boots. Every bruise reminded me how close Corbin had come to escaping. How close we had come to losing again.---The hallway outside my room was quiet except for distant footsteps and the faint creak of old wood. Usually mornings carried noise – arguments over food, laughter, wolves shoving each other awake.Today, whispers replaced it all.When I entered the main hall, conversations died almost instantly. Not completely. Just enough.
The study smelled like candle wax, ink, and exhaustion.Maps covered nearly every surface. Pins marked old meeting places. Symbols from Nyra's parchment had been copied onto scraps of paper and scattered across the desk like pieces of a puzzle none of us could fully solve.I stood at the center with my arms folded, trying to ignore the dull ache still lingering from the mine collapse."We need to make W believe the pack is crumbling," I said.Grey leaned against the wall near the door. "That won't be hard. Half the pack already suspects each other."No one laughed. Because he wasn't wrong.Kael rested both hands on the edge of the map table, shoulders tense. "Then we use that. Let the rumors spread. But control which ones."Rina nodded from beside the shelves. "People already think patrols are stretched thin. A little encouragement won't seem strange."Near the window, Drakon turned away from the gray morning outside. "My father's followers always responded to weakness. W will be no d
Pain woke me before the sunlight did.It settled deep in my bones, heavy and throbbing, dragging me slowly back to consciousness. For a moment, I didn't know where I was. The air smelled sharp and clean – herbs, crushed leaves, dried roots hanging overhead.The infirmary.I opened my eyes to gray morning light filtering through narrow windows. Bandages wrapped my ribs and shoulder. Another circled my thigh beneath the blankets. Every part of me felt bruised.The carved wolf sat on the small table beside the cot. Someone had cleaned it.My throat tightened unexpectedly at the sight.Mara stood over me with a bowl of steaming water, her silver hair tied back tightly. She pressed two fingers carefully against my ribs. Pain shot through me hard enough to make me hiss."You're lucky," she muttered. "Nothing broken. Though apparently you tried very hard to change that."I let my head fall back against the pillow. "Nyra?"Mara's mouth flattened. "In a cell. Her leg's being treated." She dipp







