KELLY THOMPSON'S POV
A few hours later...
"Your Majesty! There's an attack going on outside the palace. It's mercenaries apparently commissioned by our arch rivals of the North pack," shouts a guard in a total panic as he bursts into the council venue.
Jason is the first to stand up and to rush outside. The council members and I immediately follow him.
The day, out of a sudden, plunges into a cacophony of snarls and the metallic scent of spilled lifeblood. Shadows danced under the baleful glow of the moon as howls tore through the veil of darkness, each one a jagged edge ripping at the fabric of calm that once draped our land. My nostrils flared, the pungent aroma of war-a mélange of fear, fury, and open wounds-filled the air, setting my senses alight with a primal urgency.
