The first howl came just after midday.
Not a warning.
Not an alarm.
A question.
It rose from the lower training grounds, long and low, carrying across the stone walls and into the trees beyond. It wasn’t aggressive. It wasn’t panicked.
It was searching.
Lila felt it before she heard it, a subtle tightening beneath her ribs that had nothing to do with the child and everything to do with the bond she shared with the pack now. Not mystical. Not prophetic.
Earned.
She paused mid-step on the Alpha floor, one hand bracing lightly against the wall as the sound rippled through the territory.
Caleb stopped beside her instantly. “That’s not a patrol call.”
“No,” she agreed quietly. “It’s… a check.”
Another howl answered it. Then another. Different voices. Different tones. Wolves from oppo
