The stone walls of the Redwood Pack stronghold felt colder than usual. Even though the fire was bright and the warriors below trained hard, Ethan couldn’t help but feel imprisoned by his own guilt, anger, and grief over something not connected to the battle.
He was alone in his war chamber, with the golden crest of the Redwood wolf on the banner at the wall opposite him. He should have felt pride. Authority. Strength.
Instead, all he felt was agitation.
Each hour that passed only sharpened the weight in his chest.
He had come back to his territory under a cloud of disgrace, and the door to Crestwood slammed in his face. His attempts at diplomacy burned to ash in a matter of minutes. And Maddy—Maddy had destroyed the one shred of hope he had left to repair what was broken.
His fists cl
