The tension in the air felt like it was about to snap at any moment. The rogues didn’t trust us—didn’t trust me. Not yet. But that was fine. I didn’t need their trust right away. I just needed them to see what we were offering. What we could do if they were willing to stand with us.
Cassian led me through the camp, and I could feel the eyes on me before I even saw them. The wolves, the ones who had survived when their packs had burned. The ones who had been hunted, chased down like animals, forced to live in the shadows. They watched us, their gazes cold, calculating.
Some were older, their fur graying at the edges, their eyes hardened by years of survival. Others were younger, their faces still sharp with the rawness of what they had lost. I could feel their pain radiating off them, the
