The grand chambers of the High Council were carved into the mountain itself—ancient, vast, and filled with the scent of old blood and older secrets.
Ivy stood tall despite the weight of the past pressing on her shoulders. Her hair was still damp from the storm outside, her palms tingling with residual magic. Kael was beside her, a protective presence that steadied her heart. Ember flanked her left, alert and armed beneath her cloak.
Twelve Council members sat in a crescent arc of thrones. Alphas, Elders, and the appointed High Oracle. Most were wolf shifters, but a few were sorcerers and old bloodlines who rarely showed their faces in the outside world. Power pulsed in the air, thick as smoke.
“You barge into our sacred court,” said Alpha Thorne, an old man with a voice like grinding st
