The first challenge came at dusk.
Kael felt it before he saw it—the shift in the air, the tightening of instincts, the way the forest seemed to lean inward as if holding its breath. The rogues who had followed him since the river fell silent one by one, hands drifting toward weapons, eyes scanning the shadows.
“They’re testing you,” one of them muttered.
Kael didn’t slow his stride. “Good.”
A wolf stepped out onto the path ahead, tall and broad-shouldered, his scent sharp with old dominance. Scars crossed his muzzle, fresh enough to still sting.
“You’re the banished Alpha,” the wolf said. “The Queen’s mistake.”
Kael stopped at last.
“I’m the man who walked away from a crown,” he corrected calmly. “You came to challenge me, or to measure me?”
The wolf’s lips curled. “Both.”
The ans
