I’m walking towards the market, the familiar path through the woods a comforting routine.
Lior is still at the pack house, dealing with whatever Beta duties remain even with Nox… well, with Nox being Nox.
He’s meeting me at the cabin later, and I’m picking up a few things we need – some fresh herbs, maybe some berries if they look good.
The air is crisp, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth, but beneath it, I catch snippets of hushed conversations as pack members pass by.
“Did you hear?” a lady is saying, her voice tight with a kind of nervous excitement.
“The council… they actually did it,” another replies, in a low and sad tone.
I incline my head left towards the voices, to try to catch more of what they're saying.
“Temporary, they say…” one of the farm boys I recognise as
