The sun dipped below the horizon, bleeding deep crimson and bruised purple across the sky. In the territory of the Crescent Moon, the air was never truly still; it hummed with the primal energy of the pack.
At the Vance estate, the tension was nearing a breaking point. Lady Vance stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows of the library, her silhouette as sharp and unforgiving as a blade. She clicked open her gold pocket watch, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the silent room.
"Five o'clock," she murmured. Her voice was thin, carrying the weight of ancient authority. "The scouts reported the perimeter bus arrived twenty minutes ago. Isla was not on it."
"I told you, Mother."
Sera stepped out from the shadows of the hallway, her silk dress rustling like a snake through dry grass. She cros
