A Y L A
We walked deeper into the camp, the forest canopy filtering the sunlight into shifting gold. The farther we went, the more the place revealed itself, small gardens, smoke pits, makeshift shelters reinforced with logs, children weaving reed baskets, women hanging clothes on stretched rope.
It didn’t look temporary.
It looked lived in.
Established.
Hidden.
Draven slowed his steps, his voice breaking through the quiet.
“Before Raiden became Alpha,” he began, “his father made sure to bring us rogues under his rule.”
I blinked. Rogues under pack rule? That alone didn’t make sense.
“Usually, rogues were seen as banished,” he continued, “outcasts. Never welcomed. Never trusted. Most were sentenced to death on sight.”
I swallowed hard, the tension in my shoulders tightening.
“Bu
