The days following the battle brought a strange stillness over the summit grounds. Not peace exactly, but a lull. The kind that arrives just before another storm.
Evelyn walked the outer gardens at dawn, breathing in the cool scent of dew-covered grass and herbs. Aria padded beside her in wolf form, silent and watchful, her silver-white fur catching the first light of morning.
“Something is coming,” Aria murmured through their link.
Evelyn didn’t answer immediately. She felt it too—a restlessness humming in the earth, a whisper on the wind that seemed to tug at her spirit.
She reached the edge of the cliff overlooking the northern forest. Below, packs had begun to return to their territories, though many remained behind to aid in rebuilding or stand as peacekeeping units. For the first
