The dawn came quietly.
Mist drifted low across the packlands, curling between the trees and brushing against the training field like ghostly ribbons. The first light of morning was soft, golden — the kind of light that made the world look gentler than it was.
Crystal stood on the terrace of the Alpha’s den, her hands wrapped around a steaming cup of tea. Below her, the pack was waking — the faint shuffle of wolves preparing for their morning patrols, the laughter of pups darting through the fog. It was a sound she hadn’t realized she missed until now.
Peace had a strange weight to it.
For months, the pack had lived with tension wrapped tight around every breath — secrets, spells, bloodshed. Now, in the quiet, Crystal wasn’t sure what to do with the stillness. It was both soothing and f
