LOGINThe Warden's portal dropped them onto Ashwood's border ridge hard enough to knock the breath from Selene's lungs.She stumbled forward, caught herself, and looked down.Smoke poured from the eastern wing, thick enough to blot out parts of the afternoon sky. The main gates had been smashed inward, their splintered remains scattered across the entrance.And the courtyard was full of wolves.Silver eyes flashed between the trees and ruined walls. Dozens of them moved through the pack grounds, perhaps more, pressing against Ashwood's already thin defences with the same unnerving coordination Selene had seen at the council.Kael didn't hesitate.He shifted while running.Black fur swept across his body, bones snapping and reforming beneath his skin, and a heartbeat later he slammed into the nearest attacker. The impact sent the wolf skidding across the broken stone and into what remained of the gate.Selene shifted almost immediately.Behind her, Fenna caught Aria's hand and pulled the gir
Thane called for an order.It took several attempts.The chamber was barely recognisable. Councillors sat in salvaged chairs, some with blood-soaked cloth pressed against their injuries. Guards stood around Aldric, watching him closely even though he hadn't resisted.A senior councillor, Selene didn't recognize finally rose.Plaster dust clung to the woman's robes. Her face was drawn tight as she looked over the wreckage—the shattered podium, overturned chairs, blood on the floor.Then she turned to the assembly."This council will convene an emergency tribunal."Her voice carried cleanly through the room."Effective immediately. Councillor Aldric will stand trial for treason, conspiracy, and endangerment of this body. Full testimony from all present parties will be entered into the permanent record."Aldric lowered his head.He didn't argue."Dorian Vale remains at large," she continued. "His current location and condition are unknown following this morning's events. A formal warrant
Kael's head snapped up, blood still dripping from the gash along his temple onto the marble below. "Two? You told us Selene alone carried this purpose.""I told you what I understood at the time," the Warden said. "I did not know then that Aria's own power had already begun stirring. I suspected. I did not know."Selene tightened her grip around Aria protectively, exhaustion giving way to sharp, immediate fear. "What does that mean? What is she supposed to do?""I don't know the full shape of it," the Warden admitted. "The working was designed by minds far older than mine, sealed away before even my own creation. What I know is fragmentary—pieces gathered across centuries of watching, not understanding."Kael crossed the chamber floor toward them, blood still streaked across his face from the fighting. "Then find out. Now. Before Corvain recovers enough to come after her again."Aria stirred against Selene's chest, eyes fluttering open, still hazy with exhaustion. "Am I in trouble?" s
Selene moved before conscious thought caught up, shifting mid-stride, claws tearing through the space between herself and the advancing guards faster than her human mind could process the distance, bones reshaping in a blur that left the marble floor scored beneath her feet.She wasn't fast enough.The first guard's blade arced downward toward Ronan's exposed shoulder as he twisted to shield Aria's small body with his own, putting himself directly in the weapon's path without a moment's hesitation. Steel bit deep. Ronan roared, staggering, blood spraying across the marble in a dark arc, but he didn't fall, didn't release his grip on the girl clutched against his chest.The second guard lunged past him, blade aimed low, directly at Aria.Light exploded from the girl's small frame.Not gold, not silver—something else entirely, deep violet-blue, ancient and raw and utterly untrained, erupting outward in a shockwave that sent both guards flying backwards across the chamber floor, their bl
Selene's answer never came.A councilor near the chamber's shattered east doors staggered forward, clutching his side, blood seeping between his fingers where a silver-eyed attacker's claws had caught him during the earlier chaos. He collapsed three steps from the podium, his robes pooling dark red against the marble, and Fenna lunged to catch him, pressing both palms hard against the wound while his breathing turned shallow and ragged beneath her hands."He's losing too much blood," she snapped. "I need supplies. Now."Two guards scrambled toward the antechamber, and in the sudden scramble of motion, Selene lost track of Vale entirely for one critical heartbeat.When she turned back, he was gone.Not fled through the shattered doors, not visible anywhere among the wreckage or the scrambling councilors—simply gone, as though he'd never stood there at all."Where—" Selene spun in a full circle, wolf instincts screaming warning even as her human mind scrambled to catch up. "He was right
Vale's eyes swept the wreckage of the chamber with unhurried interest, stepping over a fallen guard without breaking stride, as though the carnage were simply scenery arranged for his arrival. Blood still pooled dark across the marble near the east doors, and the surviving councilors pressed themselves against the far wall, too stunned to flee further.Kael moved first, shifting mid-lunge, black fur exploding across his frame as he closed the distance in three bounding strides, claws already extended for a killing strike. Vale sidestepped with contemptuous ease, catching Kael's shoulder and driving him hard into a toppled bench, wood splintering under the impact and scattering across the floor in a spray of broken slats.Selene shifted too, claws extended, and threw herself at Vale's exposed flank—the same wound she'd opened once already, now healed to a thin silver scar. Her claws never reached it. Vale caught her wrist mid-strike, strength radiating through his grip that felt nothin







