Chapter Twenty-Two
The betrayal came quietly.
No horns. No warnings. No dramatic charge across open ground.
Just absence.
Lyra felt it before anyone spoke. The bond tightened—not sharply, not violently, but with a cold, sinking certainty that settled deep in her chest. Something that had been there was suddenly gone.
She stopped mid-step in the war chamber.
Cain noticed instantly. “What is it?”
Elias was already scanning the map. “A line just collapsed,” he said slowly. “Northern ridge.”
Lyra moved to the table. The markings that represented their allied forces flickered faintly—then one of them dimmed.
Neutral pack. The same one that had bowed at the gathering.
“They pulled out,” Cain growled.
“No,” Lyra said quietly. “They didn’t just pull out.”
She closed her eyes, reaching
