The name he hadn’t spoken in years clung to Rowan’s lips like frost.
“...Mom?”
He didn’t mean to say it aloud.
But the moment the woman on the opposite ridge lifted her head, the moment her silver-flecked eyes locked onto his across the battlefield—it tore something open.
Quinn’s breath hitched.
Jace stepped forward, instinctively shielding Rowan. “Who is she?”
Kaelen didn’t answer right away. He couldn’t. His jaw was tight, as if he, too, had seen a ghost step from behind the veil.
“She was the last Alpha of the Forgotten North,” he said finally. “Exiled. Marked rogue. And…”
He turned to Rowan.
“She’s your mother, yes. But she’s also the wolf who refused the leash before any of us had the courage.”
Across the battlefield, the silver-bannered woman lifted her chin.
No armor. No
