The attack came at midday.
The call reached Aerie through Elara’s rapid footsteps. She burst in, chest heaving, voice tight in a way I rarely heard from her.
“Eastern perimeter. Forty-seven wolves down.”
I was already on my feet, pulse kicking hard against my ribs. Victor and Evan were already there. Good. The stones in my pockets radiated steady heat against my thigh, ready.
I moved through the fortress corridors at a run, coat flapping, the bond in my chest humming like a live wire. Outside, the eastern courtyard had become a controlled storm. Voices clipped and low. Bodies moved with urgent precision. The affected wolves had been separated into a wide circle, a correct decision. Their distress already bled into the air, sharp and hollow, like a scream trapped behind glass.
Victor s
