(Aria's POV )
The Hollow was quiet, but it wasn’t peace.
The silence after the creature’s disappearance pressed down like a weight. The longhouse still smelled of smoke and iron. Wolves moved in hushed urgency outside, gathering what was left of the night, but no one dared enter. The storm might have passed, but its echo lingered in the walls, in their bones.
Kael stood near the hearth, or what was left of it, hands braced on his thighs, blood still dripping sluggishly from the gash along his ribs. The firelight painted his wolf-scarred skin in bronze and shadow. His breath came in rough pulls, more animal than man.
Aria sat on the floor with Storm curled against her, the boy’s small chest rising and falling in deep, exhausted sleep. His mark had faded to a dull ember. Her fingers tre
