Chapter Eleven: Fractures in the Dark 

In a cabin far removed from the main pack grounds—half an hour’s run through dense pine and slick, moss-covered stone—Bradly’s voice tore through the quiet like a rusted blade.

“This is ridiculous! A pup could lead better than that mutt!” he snarled, pacing a rut into the wooden floorboards as he spoke. The cramped hunting cabin smelled of old smoke, wet leaves, and frustration—most of it radiating from Bradly himself.

Kern sat slouched in a worn leather chair, the firelight flickering across his worried features. “Well… what can we do about it? You know she’s stronger than you—”

He froze, eyes widening as if he could physically catch the words he had just blurted out.

Bradly’s entire body went rigid. “She is NOT stronger than me,” he spat, his voice low and poisonous. “A mere female?” He let out a sharp derisive snort, though his chest tightened at the memory he couldn’t ignore—Talia pinning him to the earth in less than three minutes, her wolf a silent, brutal storm compared to