The exodus from the Black Mountain felt like a funeral procession for the life I had tried so hard to rebuild. We moved under the cover of a moonless sky, a silent line of three hundred wolves, omegas, and children snaking through the high mountain passes. Behind us, the lights of the Estate, which was once a symbol of power, flickered like dying embers.
I walked at the front of the line, my silver hair tucked beneath a dark hood. Beside me, Killian moved with a heavy, restless energy. He was no longer the Alpha of a Great Pack; he was a guardian of a ghost fleet, his eyes constantly scanning the ridgeline for the tell-tale glint of human optics or the hum of an Aegis drone.
“The border of the Forbidden Forest is three miles ahead,” Killian whispered, his voice barely audible over the cr
