The doors of the Winterborn hall swung open without anyone touching them. The cold wind that rushed inside carried scents I recognized instantly. Fear. Steel. Wolves preparing to die. And beneath all of it, a thread of something deeper and more ancient. Submission. Not to an Alpha. To an heir.
My wolf rose up inside me, alert and still, as if standing on a precipice waiting for the world to acknowledge what she already knew. This power was not new. It was inherited. Sleeping. Now awake.
Ronan’s grip on my hand tightened, not possessive, but unshakably rooted. His voice came out rough. “Stay close. No matter what happens.”
Kade moved toward the threshold. White frost swirled around his boots, reacting to my presence as if the hall were weighing him. Approving him. Or warning him. He star
