Kora’s POV
We moved before dawn, the sky still bruised and the moon a pale smear behind the Black Pines. The whole pack had gathered—less than a full army, but enough steel and fur and sharpened resolve to make anyone think twice before testing us again. Edward’s hand was a steady weight on my back as we filed through the gate. I could feel his pulse through the leather of his glove, strong and sure.
Mara rode ahead on a quiet mare, eyes like flint, and the two scouts flanked us like hawks. I walked between Edward and the others, cloak pulled tight against the chill, but it was not the cold that ate at me. It was the pressure behind my eyes, the constant, insistent whisper that had become a physical thing lately. Aaron.
We had a plan—Mara’s plan, brutal in its simplicity: split Aaron’s
