---
The stronghold was no longer merely a fortress.
It was a nest of sharpened blades, wolves moving with taut precision, the air thick with iron and anticipation. Every courtyard became a training ground, every hall filled with murmurs of coming war. The Hollow Court’s first strike had left scars on both walls and hearts, and Kael would not let them deepen.
Tonight, he would lay his gambit bare.
---
The war table sprawled before him, maps pinned beneath daggers, ink scrawled in harsh strokes marking where allies had fallen or wavered. Candles guttered low, their wax pooling across the stone like blood.
Kael stood at its head, silver eyes sweeping his gathered Alphas. His presence filled the hall like a storm, every wolf watching with bated breath.
“We wait, we die,” Kael began, his
