(Unknown POV)
The forest felt... off.
Too still.
Not in fear—but in anticipation.
Maira dismounted her horse at the edge of the forest, eyes sweeping over the Forsaken encampment she had carved out of nothing. Smoky braziers lined the perimeter. Clans of outcast wolves and magic-broken bloodlines whispered in their tongues, none meeting her gaze directly.
Even the wind, it seemed, had questions.
Joseph’s hand brushed her back gently, and Luca’s steps were heavy behind her. Their presence grounded her—fierce, loyal—but it couldn’t silence the unrest swirling like storm clouds around them.
“What happened in the Hollow Stone…” Luca muttered, “It cracked something open.”
“No,” Maria said, voice low. “It only revealed what was already rotting beneath.”
The scent hit her first—blood. Fr
