The forest howled back.
Torin’s roar carried like thunder through the trees, and wolves from packs miles away responded instinctively. The sound wasn’t ordinary, it was a command. And some wolves… couldn’t take it.
Far in the Eastwood sector, young wolves dropped mid-run, their bodies twitching violently before going still. Others whimpered and backed into the earth, confused and frightened by something older than instinct. The weather felt raw and untamed.
Deep within the palace’s eastern wing, where Alpha Zeus’s pack had gathered, chaos erupted.
A mother let out a strangled scream as her pup collapsed in her arms. “No…no, no, no…wake up!” she cried, shaking the tiny limp body. Another woman clutched her twin sons, trying to wake them, while two healers rushed forward, feeling helple
