The air inside Blackwater Keep carried a strange quiet the morning after Kael’s mark seared itself into Ariana’s skin. The scent of blood still lingered faintly in the courtyards, but the silence felt heavier than mourning—it was anticipation, a storm building beyond the horizon.
Kael stood at the long council table, maps spread before him, his golden eyes dark and rimmed with shadows from a sleepless night. Ariana sat at his side, though she felt his tension pressing into her like iron bands. His hand rested on the table’s edge, claws digging faint grooves into the wood.
A warrior burst through the chamber doors, breathless, his armor scorched, his face smeared with dirt. He bowed low, but his words tumbled out quickly.
“Alpha… it’s your brother. Damon. He’s been taken.”
The silence s
