Chapter Seventeen: The Ones Who Remember
The forest did not move.
It watched.
*****
Cassandra
She felt them before she truly saw them.
Not like wolves.
Not like Alphas.
Not even like the Council.
These were… different.
Their presence pressed against her senses. Not hostile, not friendly, but ancient. Measuring. Knowing.
Jay stirred in her arms, his small fingers tightening in her clothes.
“Mommy…” he whispered weakly.
“I’m here,” she said softly, though her voice felt distant even to her own ears.
Because something inside her recognized them.
*****
Bosco
“Everyone hold position,” Bosco ordered quietly, though tension coiled through every word.
His men obeyed, weapons raised, but uncertain.
Because this wasn’t a fight they understood.
The figure that stepped forward from
