Aurelia POV
The central square had never held so many wolves at once.
By the time I arrived, the entire pack seemed to have gathered under the wide evening sky, hundreds of bodies pressed together across the open grounds. Warriors stood in loose formation near the front. Families clustered together further back. Elders occupied the raised platform at the center, their ceremonial robes catching the last light of the setting sun.
Word had spread quickly through Silver Crest that morning. A pack-wide prayer gathering, called specifically to invoke the Moon Goddess's blessing over Luna Helena's recovery. Attendance wasn't strictly mandatory, but I understood well enough that absence would be noticed and remembered unfavorably.
I slipped into the crowd near the very back, close enough to he
