LOGINThird-Person POVThe camp was quiet.Moonlight filtered through the trees. Casting silver shadows across the rows of tents and sleeping wolves. Guards patrolled the perimeter in steady rotations. Their footsteps soft against the packed earth.Everything seemed peaceful.
Irene's POVMia had brought her daughter.I hadn't noticed at first. The girl had been hidden among the Stream Pack warriors. Small and quiet and easily overlooked.But Carl and Karin noticed immediately."Who's that?" Carl pointed a
Irene's POVThe messenger arrived at dawn.A young wolf, barely past his first shift, bearing the insignia of a Pack I didn't recognize. A silver stream curving through a crescent moon. The symbol was elegant, unfamiliar."Princess Irene." He dropped to one knee before me. Breathless from running. "Alpha Mia of the Stream Pack requests an audience. She waits at your northern borde
Irene's POVThe medical tent was quiet.Most of the wounded from the earlier skirmish had been treated and sent to rest. Only a few cots remained occupied. Soft groans and murmured conversations drifting through the canvas walls.I guided Karson to an empty cot. He sat down heavily. His face pale beneath the dirt and dried blood."You should let the healers do this," he said."The healers are busy with wolves who followed orders." I gathered supplies from the nearby table. Bandages. Salve. Clean water. "You stayed behind when I told you to run.""You told me not to die. I didn't."I didn't respond. Just pulled a stool close and began cleaning the gash on his shoulder.He winced when the cloth touched the wound. But he didn't complain. Didn't pull away.Just watched me with those dark eyes that saw too much.The silence stretched between us. Heavy with unspoken words.I focused on the task. Wiping away blood. Examining the depth of the cut. Applying salve with careful fingers."Irene."
Irene's POVThe camp was still awake when I returned.Torches burned along the perimeter. Guards patrolled with heightened alertness. Word of our mission had spread, and no one was sleeping until they knew the outcome.Ken met me at the gate. His weathered face flooding with relief when he saw me."Princess." He fell into step beside me. "You're unharmed?""I'm fine." I pulled the scroll from my coat. "And I have what we need."His eyes widened. "The attack plans?""Everything. Troop positions. Formations. Timeline." I kept walking toward the war room. "Gather the elders. Now."Ken disappeared into the darkness. His footsteps fading as he rushed to obey.I reached the war room minutes later. Spread the scroll across the main table. Studied the markings in the flickering torchlight.It was worse than I had feared.Marcus wasn't planning a simple assault. He was planning annihilation. Multiple attack vectors. Coordinated strikes. Overwhelming force concentrated at our weakest points.If
Irene's POVThe window opened exactly when I predicted.The guards shifted positions. Their backs turning toward us for thirty precious seconds. Just long enough for two wolves to slip through undetected.I moved.Karson followed.We crossed the exposed ground in silence. Slipping between shadows. Using every rock and scrub brush for cover. My heart pounded against my ribs with each step.The stronghold's outer wall loomed ahead. Old stone. Crumbling in places. Easy enough to climb if you knew where to look.Ken's intelligence had been thorough.I found the section he had marked. A place where the mortar had worn away. Gaps between the stones large enough for handholds. Perfect for a quiet infiltration.I scaled the wall quickly. My fingers finding purchase without hesitation. My body remembering the countless times I had trained for exactly this kind of infiltration during my years with the Howlers.Karson climbed behind me. Slower but steady. His injured leg not hampering him as muc
Irene's POVThey came at dawn.Not the full-scale assault we had been preparing for. Something smaller. Faster. A surgical strike designed to cripple us before the real battle began.The alarm howls woke me from restless sleep. I was on my feet before my eyes fully opened, instinct taking over."Th
Irene's POVThe calm before the storm.That's what the past few days had felt like. Warriors trained. Defenses strengthened. Patrols doubled. Everyone preparing for the battle we knew was coming.But the real threat wasn't just the armies gathering outside our borders.It was the snake hiding among
Irene's POVWord traveled fast in a Pack.By morning, everyone knew about the attack in the courtyard. The bodies of the Blood Moon wolves had been removed, but the bloodstains remained. Dark patches on the stone that no amount of scrubbing could fully erase.Lexie had locked herself in her quarter
Irene's POVThe stronghold had never looked so beautiful.Lanterns hung from every building, casting warm golden light across the courtyard. Colorful banners fluttered in the evening breeze, bearing the crescent moon and wolf symbol of Dark Hollows. Flowers had been woven into garlands that decorat







