JAKE'S POV - HIS OFFICE
I stood over the map like I could press the valley’s geography into the skin of my hands. Rivers sliced through fields, borders sat like scars, and every line looked suddenly too small for the kind of war I was feeling coil in my gut. Griffin paced under my ribs, restless and hungry, a low thunder I tried to quiet with breath and teeth.
Marcus, my beta and friend closed the door behind him and didn’t waste a step on pleasantries. “There’s a problem,” he said, voice flat.
I looked up. “Another rumor?”
“No.” He came closer, lowering his voice until the words were a blade. “A spy. Someone inside our walls has been sending messages to Bloodstone. I intercepted a message. The seal was Bloodstone wax.”
Bloodstone. The name scraped like gravel across my tongue. I felt
