Three days later, Black River was still recovering when Aldric appeared.
"You did well," he said, materializing in my temporary office—our current command center had burned.
"Better than I dared hope."
"We survived," I said tiredly.
"I'm not sure that counts as 'well.'"
"You did more than survive. You showed Seraphine something she hadn't seen in decades—genuine unified resistance. Not forced through magic or oath, but chosen freely by hundreds of wolves."
He looked at me seriously.
"That terrifies her more than any army could."
"She didn't look terrified," I said. "She looked angry."
"Anger is just fear with teeth," Aldric said.
"She's afraid of what you're building. Afraid it might actually work. Afraid she might have been wrong all along."
"But she won't stop."
"No." His
