Nolan POV
I felt it in my core the moment the packhouse wards flared.
Not as sound or sight, but as a violent wrench in my chest—like something vital had been grabbed and shaken hard. My wolf snarled inside me, panic bleeding through the bond I fought to keep locked down.
Ellie.
I staggered a step as thunder rolled overhead, my attention snapping away from the rogues in front of me despite every instinct screaming that it was a mistake.
Focus.
I forced my eyes back to the battlefield.
The rogues sensed the shift immediately.
They pressed harder, not with killing blows but with relentless pressure—feints, flanking maneuvers, bodies thrown into our lines to disrupt formation. They were herding us now, tightening the net the moment they realized I was trying t
