The gates cracked before I gave the order.“Hold them!” Rowan shouted.The iron bars shook again, a deep impact from the other side. Snow fell from the arch. Wolves braced their shoulders against the wood. The roar outside rolled through the valley like thunder.“Not yet,” I said. “Wait.”Darian glanced at me. “You want them inside?”“I want them close.”Kael stepped to my side. “Risky.”“Yes.”Another hit. The hinges screamed.Mira stood behind us, steady now, her eyes clear. “They’re testing the barrier,” she said. “Not the gate.”I looked past the wood, past the fear, and felt it. Something pressed against the wards we set into the stones. Not claws. Not teeth. A slow push. Curious. Hungry.“Rowan,” I said, “pull the left flank back ten paces. Open the inner lane.”He blinked. “You’re making a corridor?”“Yes.”“For what?”“For control.”Darian grinned. “I like where this is going.”“Move,” I said.They moved.Wolves shifted into position, forming a narrow path from the gate to the
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