LIAM’S P.O.V.
The training grounds smelled of cold steel and damp earth. The frost on the grass had not yet melted, but the air was already thick with tension.
The younger wolves stood in two uneven lines, eyes darting anywhere but at me. Some shifted on their feet. Some kept their hands behind their backs like they thought posture might save them.
It wouldn’t.
Carlos and Zach flanked me. Jake leaned against the fence with a mug in his hand, grinning like he was about to watch someone get gutted for sport.
I let the silence stretch until it started to itch.
“Yesterday,” I said finally, my voice carrying across the yard, “you followed me into the woods. You watched us face Kraven and his pack.”
A few of them swallowed.
“You saw what happened to them,” I continued. “Now I want to hea
