The blood moon clung to the sky like an open wound. It pulsed again, slow and nauseating, a rhythm that did not belong to the world beneath it. Every throb felt like a hand pressing against my ribcage from the inside. Not crushing. Testing. Measuring. Waiting.
The courtyard had not recovered from the first attack. Warriors dragged the rogue carcass away while others reinforced the perimeter wall, though no one pretended it would hold against a real strike. The scent of magic, steel, and fear mingled in the air. My pendant vibrated against my skin, the pulse now constant, like it was syncing itself with the moon.
Ronan ordered the bodies burned. “We do not keep anything infused by another Alpha’s magic,” he told Kade without looking at him. His voice was low enough not to travel far, but
