***Crystal’s POV***
The crisp air smelled of pine and earth as Crystal and Lizzy followed Bane along the path toward the pack house.
Her heartbeat was steady, but her mind buzzed with questions she couldn’t voice—not yet.
Bane walked a few steps ahead, alert and watchful, like a guardian wolf silently marking every shadow, every whisper. Crystal appreciated it—his presence was steady, a quiet anchor in the storm she felt closing in.
“Bane,” she said softly, falling into step beside him. “Does it always feel like this? Like you’re being watched… like the walls are listening?”
He glanced at her, his eyes flickering with something unreadable—concern, maybe? “It does,” he admitted.
“Bloodstone is an old pack. Old grudges don’t die easy. And when you’re the Alpha's right hand, you lear
