(Ava’s POV)
The cold wind stung my cheeks as I crouched behind the fallen log, eyes locked on the distant flicker of movement along Ravenwood’s border. Something wasn’t right.
Our scouting mission had started like any other—quiet, calculated, and unwelcoming. The warriors with me barely spoke more than necessary. I could feel their mistrust like a second skin, pressing against me as hard as the frost beneath my boots. They didn’t have to say it aloud—I already knew. The rumors about me had spread. Caleb’s poison had made it into our ranks.
But this wasn’t the time to crumble under whispers.
“There,” I whispered, pointing toward a shadow that slithered unnaturally close to Ravenwood’s perimeter. “That’s the third time. They’re not patrolling—they’re watching.”
Logan’s second-in-command
