ANMELDENIrene's POV
The brief respite was ending.
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Irene's POVThe war room felt smaller with everyone crowded inside.Elders filled the seats around the main table. Maps and diagrams spread across every surface. The smell of blood and smoke still lingered on our clothes from the battle hours before.We had won the skirmish. But winning a battle wasn't the same as winning a war.
Karson's POVThe scratches on her arm weren't deep.But they were there. Red lines carved into her skin. Evidence of a fight that could have gone differently. Evidence of my failure.I watched her apply the ointment. Her movements efficient. Practiced. She didn't wince at the sting. Didn't hesitate or fumble.
Irene's POVThe battlefield was still settling when Karson appeared at my side.He moved fast despite his injured leg. Limping across the blood-soaked ground like the wound didn't exist. Like nothing mattered except reaching me."Irene." His voice was rough. Breathless. "Are you hurt? Did they—"
Irene's POVLexie was broken beneath me.Bleeding. Whimpering. Defeated.I shifted back to human form. Stood over her crumpled body. Ready to end this once and for all."It's over, Lexie." My voice came out cold. Flat. "You've lost."
Irene's POVMidnight came slowly.I waited in the shadows near the depot. My body tense. My senses stretched to their limits. Every rustle of leaves. Every whisper of wind. Every distant owl call amplified in the darkness.The children were hidden safely behind the main building. Far from the trap zone. Close enough to alert us if their sharp noses detected anything unusual.
Irene's POVThe trap needed bait.Good bait. The kind that would make Lexie abandon caution entirely. The kind that would draw her in like a moth to flame.I knew exactly what that bait needed to be.Me.
Irene's POVThe courtyard erupted into chaos.One moment, Pack members were dancing and laughing. The next, wolves were pouring through the gates, their dark pelts slick with shadow magic, their eyes burning with bloodlust.Screams filled the air. Civilians scattered, running for the safety of the
Irene's POVThe battle still raged around us.I pressed my hands against Karson's shoulder, trying to slow the bleeding. His face was pale, but his eyes were clear. Focused. And filled with something I hadn't seen in them for a very long time.Recognition."I'm sorry." His voice was raw. "For every
Irene's POVKen didn't ask questions.When I showed him the passage in my mother's diary and described the moonveil petals, he simply nodded and said he would find them. Three hours later, he returned with a small pouch of dried silvery-blue flowers."They grow near the eastern waterfall," he expla
Irene's POVThe answer had been in my mother's diary all along.I sat in my room, the worn leather journal spread open before me, reading the same passage for the fifth time. My heart pounded harder with each word. The candlelight flickered, casting dancing shadows across the yellowed pages.The fo







