The siege does not erupt into violence, but it tightens with deliberate precision, and the vampire units along the eastern ridge reposition in coordinated increments that close the gaps between them while still maintaining a distance that avoids open provocation, and the discipline in their formation feels far more dangerous than chaos ever could.
Reports continue to filter through the mind link in steady controlled bursts, and each update carries the same unsettling pattern, because they are not advancing, they are not retreating, and they are not engaging unless approached, and that kind of restraint signals planning rather than hesitation.
Axel stands at the center of the war room with his palms braced against the heavy oak table, and the map beneath his hands is marked with shifting
