The words seemed to hang in the air long after the scout spoke them.
The Alliance.
Rain crashed against the ridge with renewed violence, turning the narrow paths beneath everyone's feet into streams of mud and runoff. Wind tore through the pines, bending branches until they groaned beneath the strain, while lightning flashed beyond the mountains in jagged streaks that illuminated dozens of tense faces for the briefest moments before darkness swallowed them again.
The old wolf stared at the scout.
Not confused.
Not skeptical.
Terrified.
And that frightened Nyra more than the warning itself.
Because this was a man who had spent decades carrying secrets capable of destroying reputations and reshaping history. He had stood before strangers and spoken truths that could have gotten him k
