KaelThe war room smells like iron and smoke and old stone—familiar, grounding, useless.I’ve been pacing the length of the table for too long, boots grinding against the floor in a steady rhythm that mirrors the pressure building behind my eyes. Maps are spread before me, weighted down with daggers and carved stones marking borders, patrol routes, weak points. Lines. Plans. Strategies.None of them account for the Veil tearing open inside my own walls.Ronin stands near the table, arms crossed, watching me with the patience of a beta who knows his Alpha is two seconds away from snapping or deciding something irreversible. Two of my captains sit on opposite sides, silent, waiting. Lucian lingers near the doorway, unreadable as ever.I stop pacing and stab a finger into the eastern edge of the map.“They didn’t come through the border,” I say. “They came around it. Which means someone knew exactly where to thin the wards.”Ronin nods. “Agreed. We’ve checked the outer sentries twice. No
Last Updated : 2026-01-02 Read more