By midnight, Silver Crest felt nothing like home anymore. It was just a prison.
Every hallway was crawling with armed warriors. Patrol wolves never stopped pacing the territory’s borders, torches flickered all night long, and archers stood ready along the walls. Even the servants seemed to tiptoe under all that pressure hanging over the mansion like a heavy blanket.
Nobody laughed now. Nobody let their guard down. Everyone knew the truth.
The Alpha Queen was awake.
And the enemies were already lining up.
Liana lingered at her bedroom window, watching rain tap on the glass as the forest stretched out into darkness below.
She hadn’t slept. Couldn't, really. Whenever she closed her eyes, those visions from the archive chamber drifted back—blood, war, crowns—and Kael dying.
Her wrist ac
