The wind changed.
It carried the metallic sting of magic and the cold weight of inevitability. Snow spiraled upward instead of falling, suspended in the air like frost caught in breath. Every wolf on the battlefield felt it. A shift. A pull. Something old enough to predate the packs themselves turning its gaze toward us.
My pulse pounded in my ears. The Winterborn throne’s echo pulsed in my veins, urging me forward. My wolf pressed against my skin, steady and focused, no longer clawing or growling. She had settled into something far more unsettling.
Purpose.
Ronan moved to block my path again, muscles tense. His voice was raw. “You are pushing farther than you understand. Stop now before this takes more than you can give.”
I shook my head. “It already took the moment I was born.”
Kad
