Cierra:
When I came to, the world was smoke and silence.
The fires had been put out, but the scent of them lingered — burnt cedar, scorched metal, and something darker beneath. I sat in the infirmary, bandaged but restless, my pulse still echoing the rhythm of battle. Outside the windows, dawn bled gray across the courtyard. The wardlines pulsed faintly, weaker than I’d ever seen them.
We’d survived the night. Barely.
Dominic had called an emergency council. The message spread like wildfire: all alphas, lieutenants, and sentinels present by sunrise.
Now, the great hall looked nothing like the place of ceremony it had once been. Maps littered the long table. The scent of iron and blood hung thick in the air. Every face I met was drawn, weary, but alert. The tension was a living thing.
