POV: Alpha Jackson
The transition from the Whispering Valley back into the Diamond Moon territory was like plunging from a high-altitude dream into a cold, waking nightmare. In the Valley, the air had been charged with ancient resonance—a place where the earth itself breathed in sync with the lunar cycle. Here, as we crossed the twenty-mile stretch of forest separating the Royal Kingdom from our pack borders, the atmosphere was drained of color and hope. It was as if the world had been turned into a charcoal sketch, smudged by a cruel, indifferent hand.
Every inch of those twenty miles felt like a marathon through waist-deep, freezing water. We moved at a dead run—sixty warriors of the Diamond Moon, a streak of silver fur and tempered steel. Beside me, Amethyst was a blur of solid white,
