The moment Kova vanished through Ulfric's portal, reality began to unravel.
Akira felt it first through the cubs in her belly—their sudden, frantic kicking as if they sensed their brother's absence like a physical wound. The triplets had been restless throughout the chaos, but now they moved with desperate urgency, small forms pressing against her ribs in patterns that spoke of distress beyond their years.
Then the ground split.
Not gradually, not with the slow groan of settling earth, but with the sharp crack of bone breaking under pressure. Fissures spider-webbed across the compound's carefully maintained grounds, venting steam that carried the scent of sulfur and deeper things. Ancient things that had slept beneath Blackwood territory and now stirred with volcanic restlessness.
"Wha
