The morning dawned slow, spilling light across the ruined courtyard. The fires had long since been doused, but their memory lingered: black scars where flames had licked stone, ash ground into the cracks beneath boot and paw. The pack gathered again, not for battle, not for mourning, but for something rarer. Renewal. Nicole stood at the center.Her cloak was simple, stripped of ornament. Her throat bore no jewels, no mark of vanity. Only the scars of battle and the dark edge of exhaustion set her apart from the others. She did not want to stand above them, she wanted to stand among them, though every wolf knew she carried the weight no one else could bear. Brian stood to her right, his presence not loud but steady, a counterweight to the fury that often threatened to tear her apart. Silas stood further back, among the shadows of the council, his expression unreadable but his eyes sharp, burning, unwilling to look away. Elara kept to the left, not hidden, not silent. She had chosen her
Last Updated : 2025-10-04 Read more