What followed was no longer a battle, but a flesh-and-blood inferno. Claws tore through fur, fangs crushed bone, and scorching blood splashed cruel totems across the snow. Wolves tangled together as they fell, the wails of torn throats and the roars of victory weaving into a hellish symphony. Lane tore a bloody path through the enemy ranks. Her silver-white fur had been stained dark red, every breath filled with the metallic stench of rust and death. Three thousand against twenty thousand—this meant every warrior had to take at least six enemy wolves with them! After four hours of brutal fighting, most of the enemy were annihilated. The rest fled. Of the three thousand warriors Lane had led, only a little over a thousand remained. The reason those thousand survived was the near exha

