Today was for the pack. For both packs. Today was the day for us. Bloodhowl and Darkspire had come together to celebrate. The clearing didn’t look like the elder grove I remembered. It had been dressed for something bigger than mourning or training. Bloodhowl’s crimson and Darkspire’s charcoal hung in long strips from the pines, braided together so the colors swayed like one in the wind. Firepits ringed the open space, flames steady, throwing sparks into the branches overhead. The smell was stew and bread and woodsmoke, thick enough to warm even the most suspicious stomach. They had built a stage over the training platform, wide timber, fresh-cut so the sap still stuck to your boots if you stood too long. It wasn’t polished. It didn’t need to be. It was solid, broad enough for Alphas and e
