The pack did not celebrate after the attack.
Victory usually came with noise—howls lifted to the sky, laughter edged with relief, warriors boasting loudly as if to convince themselves they were still alive. This time, there was none of that. The clearing lay under a strange, brittle quiet, broken only by the crackle of fires and the occasional groan of the wounded.
Glosh felt the shift the moment she stepped outside.
Conversations faltered when she passed. Wolves straightened unconsciously, shoulders squaring, heads dipping before they realized what they were doing. Even those who had known her for years now looked at her as if she might fracture into something unrecognizable if they stared too long.
She hated it.
Her hands were stained with blood—not hers, but it didn’t matter. She k
