Masuk*The Broken Stone* The battlefield was quiet by morning. Smoke curled from shattered banners, broken weapons, and blackened earth. Wolves moved slowly, not as warriors now, but as mourners. They carried the fallen with reverent hands, laying them in neat rows along the edges of the clearing. Crystal stood at the center, her body trembling, her eyes locked on the place where Evren had vanished. The faint shimmer of silver light still lingered there, like starlight refusing to fade. Her throat ached terribly. Ryder’s arm tightened around her waist. He had cleaned the worst of his wound, though his ribs were still bound in bloodstained linen. His voice was low, roughened with grief. “He held the gate when none of us could. He saved us.” Crystal swallowed hard, tears blurring her vision. “He was meant to be the guardian all along.” Nearby, Shadow Pack wolves knelt. Alpha Darius stood at their head, shoulders bowed, his face carved with grief deeper than words. He had lost not o
*The Broken Stones*Wolves dragged the wounded to the rear.Crystal still knelt beside Ryder, her palms pressed firmly against the wound in his ribs. Her flames flickered weakly around her fingers, sealing blood vessels. The world around her was blurred—only the slow, stubborn rise of Ryder’s chest mattered.Ryder’s golden eyes cracked open just enough to find hers. “I’m… still here,” he rasped.She choked on a wet laugh, tears streaking her stained cheeks. “Don’t you ever do that again.”Around them, the packs regrouped—Greenwood archers dragging shattered shields, Shadow wolves closing ranks, Luca and Thalia standing guard over Crystal like twin blades. Ethan and Alia gathered survivors.For a while, there was stillness. Then the ground quaked again.A fissure split the stones near the ruined gate. Its surface sparkled unnaturally with light bleeding through like liquid fire. And from the edges of reality itself, a voice slithered: cold, terrible, and triumphant.Queen Elira's cold
*The Broken Stones*Smoke curled between shattered pillars, carrying the metallic sting of blood. Crystal’s flames flickered weaker around her hands—her breathing ragged, but the battlefield gave her no mercy.Ryder’s golden eyes met hers across the battlefield. Then the ground quaked beneath them. A shadow beast lunged, its form blotting out the rising sun. Ryder’s wolf, Aiden, surged to the surface, tearing the creature apart in a spray of smoke and fluid. But even as it fell, more shadows spilled from the mist.“Fall back!” Darius bellowed, his deep voice shaking the Stones. Shadow Pack wolves closed ranks, forming a desperate circle. Greenwood archers loosed arrows in a frantic rhythm, the hiss and thrum of their bows a fragile answer to the darkness.Luca dragged Thalia to a broken wall, their shoulders heaving as they regrouped. “We’re getting swallowed!” she snarled, her pride forgotten.“Then we dig in,” Luca growled, but even his voice cracked with the weight of it.Crystal’s
*The Broken stones* Ryder tore through a beast, its body dissolving into smoke at his claws. He wheeled, scanning for Crystal. She was all light and fire at the heart of the battlefield. Luca and Thalia flanked her, their wolves ripping through the smaller shadows trying to flank her. “Hold the line!” Darius’s voice thundered across the field. Shadow Pack warriors closed ranks, shielding Greenwood archers who were already re-stringing their bows. Evren’s wolf darted past Ryder, slamming into a shadow creature twice his size. Then, through the chaos, a new scent cut through the air—familiar, and bitter. Ryder froze, nostrils flaring. George. Crystal felt it too. From the mist’s edge, a figure emerge—George. His wolf flickered at the edges of his form as he strode forward, his face shadowed, and eyes hollow. Behind him, Alpha Williams fought three shadow beasts at once. “George!” Ryder’s growl split the air. “Stand down. This isn’t your fight anymore.” George’s lips curved slight
*The Broken Stones — Sunrise*The first howl split the sky. It was long and low, a sound that vibrated through the world. Wolves from all packs raised their heads as one, answering the call.At the Broken Stones, the world was already broken. Mist coiled over shattered pillars. The ground bore the grooves of dragged bodies, and the faint scent of blood clung to every breath of wind.Elira still stood at the heart of it all with Lesley standing just behind her.Alpha Zaiden of Silver Fang approached slowly, his cloak torn and covered with blood. His wolf, bruised and battered, prowled beneath his skin like a caged thing. His eyes burned as they fixed on Elira.“You told me we’d rise together,” he said. “That Silver Fang would rule beside you.”Elira didn’t look at him. She was watching a shadow beast drag another fallen Silver Fang warrior across the stones. Her hand lifted lazily, and the beast snapped its jaws, devouring the body in a single crunch of bone.Zaiden’s hands fisted. “Th
*Silver Fang Border — The Broken Stones, Dawn*The sky was streaked gray and pale red as the screams faded to quiet whimpers. Wind tore through the mist over the Broken Stones, uncovering the wreckage Elira had caused during the night.Dead wolves lay scattered among the cracked slabs, their blood seeping into grooves carved by warriors long gone. Black and jagged claw marks scarred the earth where shadow creatures had dragged bodies back through the Gate. The world smelled of copper, ashes, and the scent of the ancient dark.Roran stood stiff-backed among what was left of Silver Fang’s warriors. His fur was sticky with blood that wasn’t all his own. His Alpha’s banner still fluttered overhead, but its silver sigil looked dull against the morning light. Around him, the surviving wolves whispered—low, fearful murmurs that even the wind couldn’t carry away.Roran’s yellow eyes flicked to Elira. She stood unscathed at the heart of the stones, her dark gown untouched by dirt or blood. Sha







