Chapter Twenty: The Correction
The ground did not shake.
It yielded.
*****
The Arrival
The forest didn’t part for them.
It bowed.
Trees bent unnaturally, roots tearing through soil as something vast and ancient pressed forward, not rushing, not hunting, arriving.
Every instinct in the clearing reacted at once.
Wolves lowered their heads.
Alphas stiffened.
Even the Council, fell silent.
Cassandra felt it like a weight against her chest.
Not fear.
Not exactly.
Something deeper.
Judgment.
*****
Cassandra
Jay whimpered softly in her arms, his small body pressing closer to her.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, though her voice lacked certainty.
Because nothing about this felt okay.
The air had thickened.
Even her power, vast and newly awakened, felt… watched.
Measured.
She s
