The night split open with a sound that made every wolf on guard flinch.
The ground trembled, a deep rumble echoing through the forest like thunder rolling too close. Lyra’s eyes snapped open where she’d been meditating under the moonlight, her link to Aelira thrumming at the edges of her consciousness.
“They’re coming,” Aelira whispered, her voice sharp as wind through the trees.
Lyra rose instantly, muscles tensing as her instincts screamed. Across the field, the alarm bells began to ring—three rapid clangs, then a pause, then three again. It was the signal every wolf dreaded: Shadow Fang sighting.
The pack scrambled into position. Warriors poured out of the barracks, growls echoing as armour snapped into place and claws lengthened in flashes of silver and bone. The air was thick with
