The cab rolled to a slow halt in front of the Secluded Meadows of the Guardian Pack.
Maya blinked through the tinted window, her breath catching in her throat.
The name had misled her.
She expected some hidden grove drenched in fog, something ancient and eerie—moss-covered stones, moonlight seeping through tangled branches, wolves howling in the distance. But what stood before her was something else entirely.
The Secluded Meadows were wide and open, but not wild. They were landscaped like a high-end resort, complete with hovering solar lamps, neatly trimmed obsidian hedges, and slick black marble tiles that reflected the golden dusk light like water.
A few drones buzzed overhead, capturing the event from angles the human eye couldn’t reach. At the center of the meadow, a raised obsid
