THE ALPHA WHO SCENTED MY SECRET
I nod, already turning to deliver the news, and catch the flash of pure, disbelieving gratitude cross Piet's face when I do, five weeks of careful penance finally earning him this one chance to matter in the way he's wanted to most.
We ride out as the sun breaks fully over the eastern hills, six of us total, Rhydian and me at the front, Sable and Piet close behind, two of Nightfall's most seasoned trackers rounding out the formation. The land changes gradually as we move east, familiar territory giving way to the wilder, less governed stretches that mark the edge of anyone's real jurisdiction, forests growing denser, the road narrowing until it's barely more than a suggestion worn into the e