CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE SHADOW WITHIN
(Solomon’s POV)
The silence after battle is never peace.
It’s a lie.
A fragile, deceptive stillness stretched thin over blood, pain, and the certainty that something worse is coming.
I stood at the edge of the ruined courtyard, watching the last of the wounded being carried toward the pack house. The scent of iron still clung heavily to the air Burnt earth.
Broken stone.
And something else.
Something I couldn’t shake.
Him.
Alaric.
Even gone, it felt like he was still there—watching, calculating, waiting.
The Ones We Saved
“They’re waking up.”
I turned at Vincent’s voice.
He stood a few feet behind me, arms crossed tightly over his chest. His expression held no relief.
No victory.
Only concern.
“Are they… themselves?” I asked.
A brief pau
