The thick, unnatural fog didn't lift after the masked woman faded into the treeline.
It remained pinned against the edges of the war circle, as though the valley itself had held its breath and forgotten how to let it back out.
For a long moment, nobody moved.
Alpha Mareth’s voice cut through the silence. "Everyone inside. Now."
The command shattered the stillness. Wolves scattered instantly—guards surged toward the wooden palisades, Isla barked curt orders at the perimeter scouts, and several elders hurried toward the frosty gravel where the woman had stood moments ago.
Rhea barely saw them. Her mind was trapped inside the violent, intrusive flash of memory.
Run, Rhea.
Her mother’s streaked face. Her father whom she could barely remember. Eli crying in the corner.
Rhea swallowed h
