We walked back into the estate before dawn.
The smoke had thinned, but the scent of blood still clung to the stone. Wolves moved quietly through the courtyard, clearing debris, tending to the wounded, counting the dead. No one celebrated. A siege leaves no room for pride.
They looked at me differently.
Not with doubt.
Not with curiosity.
With something heavier.
Recognition.
I felt it in the way their gazes followed me. In the way conversations stopped when I passed. Word had already spread that I had shifted in the tunnels. That I had fought. That I had not hidden behind walls while the King defended his throne.
Derek walked on my right. Jax on my left.
No space between us.
No confusion.
We entered the main hall together.
The council members who had taken shelter inside straigh
