The howls did not fade quickly.
They rolled through the valleys long after Raya lowered her head, and even when silence returned, the echo remained inside her bones. The answering voices had not been forced. They had not been commanded. They had risen because something in them recognized her call.
That realization did not inflate her.
It steadied her.
Later that evening, when the fortress quieted and the torches burned low along the corridors, Raya sat alone in the inner chamber reserved for ritual practice. The stone floor was cool beneath her legs as she knelt, spine straight, palms resting on her thighs.
Derek and Jax waited near the doorway, not intruding, but present.
Tonight was not about dominance or war.
It was about control.
Ria stirred inside her.
The darker twin energy
