The forest was silent before the storm.
Dawn hadn’t yet broken, but the sky glowed with a bruised purple that threatened light. Glosh sat on a moss‑covered root, arms wrapped around her knees, watching the horizon. Siena lay on a bed of ferns nearby, exhausted but alive — the girl had survived a night that would have felled most, and Glosh felt both awe and worry for her strength.
Jesse stood a few meters away, eyes scanning the treetops, ears twitching at every rustle. Even in rest, his posture remained vigilant, coiled like a predator ready to strike again. They had barely recovered from the events at Silver Falls — the rift, the ancient pack, the battle that had shaken the very earth — and already new tensions hummed in the air.
Glosh exhaled slowly, gaze drifting over the ridge wher
