The night was thick with fog, the kind that made every shadow a threat and every sound a warning.
Kael crouched atop the ridge overlooking the Iron Pass. His wolves were spread across the valley, silent and disciplined. Torches flickered far below, the Crown’s supply wagons moving too slowly, unaware that they were being watched by hundreds of eyes that knew the forest better than any map.
“This is not slaughter,” Kael whispered to his lieutenants. “It is a demonstration. Disrupt their lines, capture what is needed, and leave no unnecessary deaths. Every step matters. Every move is a message.”
A young wolf nodded nervously. “And if they fight back?”
Kael’s eyes, silver in the moonlight, locked on his recruit. “Then we are ready. But first, we control the field, not the fight.”
He sign
