Rowan
The border crisis had officially become my entire life. Not that anyone needed to tell me. I could see it every time I looked in a mirror. The exhaustion. The short temper. The permanent stack of reports occupying every available surface in my office.
Three months ago, I had been managing occasional incursions. Now I was coordinating joint military operations across two territories. And somehow, despite everything, the attacks continued. Not larger. Not more successful.
Just persistent. A wolf testing a fence. Looking for weakness. Looking for opportunity. Looking for the exact moment, someone became tired enough to make a mistake. Unfortunately for them, Marybeth and I were becoming very good at making sure that didn't happen.
The realization struck me as I entered the joint
