Cierra:
A week passed.
The halls still echoed with the ghost of Alyssa’s laughter.
No one said her name anymore, but the silence she left behind had weight — like the air before a storm. Every time I crossed the council wing, I could still smell the faint burn of ozone, the residue of the spell she’d broken on her way out. Magic like hers didn’t fade easily. It lingered, whispering, waiting.
Dominic had tightened the borders. Dane had doubled the sentinels on patrol. But still, unease hung over the pack like fog that refused to lift.
And then, they came.
The knock on the main doors echoed through the great hall — deep, deliberate, ceremonial. I felt it before I heard it, that subtle shift in the bond I shared with the land, the flicker of familiarity that made my pulse stutter.
By t
