Eran POV
The shift in the air happened before anyone moved.
Lincoln tried to step forward, but the elders were faster. Their bodies moved with a quiet, practiced authority, hands rising to block his path. Lincoln’s shoulders went rigid. I didn’t look at him for long, I didn’t need to. I already knew what I’d see in his eyes, fury, disbelief, maybe the sting of betrayal. None of it mattered now.
“Come,” one of the elders murmurs. The elders guided me forward. Their palms were firm against my back, ushering me toward the light of the doorway as if I were already theirs to command. As if I had always been meant to stand in this exact spot.
Outside, the pack had gathered.
Rows upon rows of them stretched across the clearing. These were faces I’d known since I was a child. They had looked
