LOGIN* Regina *The enemies came at dawn, not with ceremony or with horns or banners raised in honor. They came like wolves who believed the kill was already theirs, slipping through fog, spreading wide, confident that the Wild Pack would break the way rogues always had.They underestimated what hunger had taught us. The first scream ripped through the trees just as the sun crested the ridge. But it was not one of ours.I was already moving towards defending my pack. The ground shook beneath pounding paws as my warriors surged from the ravines and thickets exactly where I'd ordered them to wait. Arrows whistled from above, not meant to kill but to scatter and to confuse. The enemy lines faltered, just for a breath. They never expected we could make such a move."Now!" I roared.We hit them like a storm breaking its leash. Steel met claw and bone met bone. The world narrowed to the sound and blood. I felt the weight of my pack behind me, every step a vow I could not break. I shifted mid-str
* Regina *War is common in every wolf pack, and that is why every Alpha needs to be strong. My warriors and the others in the pack rely on me as the leader.But I have not anticipated that war would come to our pack too soon. Just when we were all busy with getting ready to pass the Alpha Kings evaluation.I felt it before the scouts in my pack returned. Before Rowan stiffened at my side. And before Elias stopped correcting a trainee mid-spar and turned his head toward the northern ridge like he'd heard a voice only he could hear.The Wild Pack's territory has learned my footsteps by now. The former rogues no longer scatter when I pass, no longer lower their eyes in fear or challenge. They straighten. They wait for my command. They watch me like wolves who have decided that this one is ours.That knowledge should have comforted me. Instead, it weighed heavily on my spine. Working my best to live up to their expectations.Rowan approached with a rolled hide map under his arm, with his
* Alpha Archer *The Western pack did not change while I was gone. It was the lie I told myself as my horse crossed the border stones and my land rose to meet me, familiar ridgelines, the same watchtowers cut from dark stone, the same banners stirring in the wind. Everything was as it should be.And yet, the moment my boots touched the ground, I felt it. I was late to my own life. This place is far from Regina."Alpha," a warrior greeted, with his fist to his chest.I returned the gesture automatically, my gaze already drifting past him, past the gates, toward the eastern tree line as if I might still catch the echo of her presence there. As if Regina might step out of shadow and fire and tell me I had miscounted the hours.She didn't, of course, she won't. She is just too far from me right now. By the time I reached the main hall, the council chamber was already alive with low voices and scratching quills. The scent of ink and parchment replaced pine smoke and earth. Duty, thick and
* Regina *The morning came without delay, the way it only ever did after blood had almost been spilled the night before.The forest breathed instead of growling. No alarms on the patrol. No tension riding my spine. Just the low murmur of my pack waking, the distant crackle of embers being stirred back to life, and the pale gold of dawn filtering through the shutters of my quarters.I woke alone. For half a heartbeat, instinct flared, my hand reaching for the space beside me, before memory settled in. Alpha Archer had left before sunrise. Of course, he had to go back to his pack in the West. He never stayed longer than he believed he should even when every part of him wanted to.The bed still held his warmth. I lay there longer than I usually allowed myself to, staring at the ceiling beams, letting the quiet sink into my bones. My wolf stirred lazily, content in a way that felt unfamiliar and dangerous. Not careless or weak. Just, full.It was when I finally pushed myself upright that
* Alpha Archer *I had faced armies without my pulse changing, just one look from me, and any warrior who didn't have Alpha blood would crumble. I had broken Alphas and watched kings kneel. But none of that prepared me for the way Regina stood in the firelight tonight.She didn't look at me when I stepped forward. She was focused on the enemies. Her spine was straight, her chin lifted, her shoulders squared in command. The flames painted her skin in gold and shadow, tracing the curve of her throat, the line of her jaw, the quiet, lethal grace in every breath she took.She was beautiful before even as an omega, I had always known that. But this, this was something else entirely. This was an Alpha who had earned her ground with blood and restraint and will. A woman whose warriors would die for her because she had taught them how to stand on their own feet without fear.The southern wolves hadn't seen it. They'd looked at her and seen history. A story they thought they understood. I saw
* Regina *They did not come in silence, and for the first time, I fear the war is coming. Branches cracked at the southern treeline, deliberately loud, a warning meant to provoke rather than hide. The fires guttered as bodies shifted into wolves, warriors rising to their feet in one smooth, practiced motion. No panic or scrambling. Just readiness snapping into place like a blade sliding free of its sheath.I stepped forward before anyone could snarl. Five wolves emerged from the dark, then ten, then more, shadows resolving into muscle and scars and the unmistakable marks of southern bloodlines. Their fur was darker, heavier, streaked with ash and old dye. Bone charms hung from braided cords around their necks. Their eyes burned with challenge, not caution.Southern challengers did not come to talk, but I couldn't sense their Alpha. They fanned out at the edge of the firelight, claiming space that was not theirs. Their lead warrior shifted mid-step, bones cracking as he rose onto two