Jason’s POV
We played a round of Battleship while we waited for Max and Zane to returned with an update on the Cadet’s progress. It was fun, of course, because I won every game. Still, there was a calm that had settled over us during our afternoon of laughter and bonding. I can’t remember the last time my brothers and I took a break from our duties to play games outside of our weekly game nights.
Just as Max and Zane returned, a piercing alarm shattered the fragile calm. The sharp, coded wail of the witches’ alarm echoed through the packhouse, slicing through the warm glow of family and forcing us all into brutal reality. A heavy silence fell for a split second—then chaos erupted. Instantly, my strategist mind snapped into gear, every sense heightened, every instinct screaming that dange
