---
The stronghold did not sleep after the river battle.
Watchfires burned along the walls, their flames fed with oils that snapped and hissed in the night air. Every wolf was restless — claws tapping, eyes scanning the forest beyond. The Hollow had retreated, yes, but no one truly believed they had lost.
It was only silence before the storm.
And storms always returned.
---
Aria lay awake in Kael’s tent, her head on his chest, listening to the heavy thrum of his heartbeat. It should have comforted her, the steady rhythm of the Alpha she had come to love more than her own breath. But tonight it only reminded her of what she had seen in her dream — that faceless figure calling her fire, claiming her as theirs.
Her skin still tingled from it.
Kael’s arm tightened around her suddenly,
