Austin’s POV
The first report reached me before dawn. A border village, burned. Not taken. Not occupied. But burned deliberately, with no strategic value. No mercy for the innocent people in it, all the lives he destroyed, for what! Just to send a message! He really is just a filthy creature with no right to live in this earth at all!
Survivors said that the scoundrels were wearing Dylan’s colors but answering to no leader, no command structure. That alone told me everything I needed to know. Dylan had lost control.
“He wants chaos,” the Beta said, spreading the map across my desk. “This wasn’t a military strike. It was provocation.”
“It’s vengeance,” I replied coldly. “And it ends now.”
Orders moved fast after that. Packs mobilized. Scouts were dispatched. Defensive wards activated.
