The morning Alden realized leadership never really slept was the morning the river flooded its banks again.
Not a storm surge like before. Not destruction. Just a steady rise that pushed water farther into the lower southern paths than anyone had predicted.
He was the one who saw it first.
And this time, he didn’t go looking for Caleb.
He went looking for Rowan.
“South bend is swelling,” Alden said, breath even but urgency clear.
Rowan didn’t ask how bad.
He just grabbed his jacket. “We redirect?”
Alden nodded. “And we move the lower food stores before they soak.”
They were already moving before the sentence finished.
The pack didn’t wait for orders.
They saw Alden and Rowan working and fell into motion behind them — hauling crates, shifting barriers, digging trenches to guide t
