(Aria’s POV)
The hours before dawn were a blur of movement, grief, and whispered arguments carried through the smoky air. Fires smoldered where the rogues had torn through, leaving half-charred beams and broken homes behind. Wolves rushed back and forth, binding wounds, gathering what little they could carry. Children clung to their mothers, eyes wide and hollow, while warriors limped, too proud to show how badly they bled.
I moved among them with my family, my cloak pulled tight against the night chill. The sky was still bruised with starlight, but already the weight of change pressed down on all of us. For the first time, Damien’s pack—no, his former pack—moved not under his orders, but Kaelen’s.
It did not sit well with everyone.
As I passed near the outer wall, I heard the mutters.
