Eryx pov
The office smelled strong.
Old paper, stale authority and the faint metallic trace of a pack that had lost its spine. I sat behind the desk that had once felt like an extension of my body, thumbing through reports that should never have reached this state. Lincoln stood to my right, silent but coiled, his presence steady in a way the room desperately needed.
The pack hadn’t been in order since I left.
That truth pressed against my ribs than any wound I’d taken in exile.
Missing patrol logs. Disputed territory notes scribbled over in a rushed, careless hand. Names crossed out, reassigned, crossed out again. Chaos disguised as leadership. I flipped another file closed, jaw tightening.
Eran was surely never going to make a good leader.
He just couldn’t.
Leadership wasn’t volu
