Bloodied Ashes
Kael (POV)
The ash came first.
It slid downriver in a thin gray current, scattering through the reeds before the wind carried it inland. By the time it reached the clearing, it was only dust in the air, settling across the shoulders of those who waited. The pack stood in a wide ring, faces lit by a pale flame at the center. The night smelled of smoke and wet earth, a scent of endings that refused to fade.
I stood apart near the trees, where the light thinned. The hum beneath my skin had been building all evening. It started low in my bones, then spread outward, into the ground itself, into the air that held its breath.
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