The challenge didn’t begin with words; it began with silence. A deliberate, calculated silence that settled over Moonridge like a warning. By sunrise, every wolf in the territory felt that something was coming, and no one knew from where. Kael stood in the centre of the courtyard, watching his pack move through their routines, training, patrol rotations, and guard changes. Everything appeared normal, but nothing felt normal.
His wolf hadn’t settled since the night before. It paced relentlessly beneath his skin, restless, agitated, searching. Find her. Kael clenched his jaw. “No,” he muttered under his breath. He wouldn’t chase a ghost. He wouldn’t let instinct override logic, and yet— He couldn’t ignore what he felt, that connection. “Alpha.” Kael didn’t turn. “Yes.” Taryn stepped beside
