The heavy iron portcullis slammed shut with a deafening clang that echoed through the frozen courtyard.
I stood paralyzed, my bare feet freezing against the stone floor, watching through the thick bars as Kaelen and his elite guards turned their horses around. The Moon Ridge Alpha didn't look back, but the absolute, murderous rage radiating from his stiff shoulders was enough to tell me this was far from over. He hadn't accepted defeat; he had simply been outmatched in a game of pure, raw dominance.
The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the whistling of the wind and the soft, steady crunch of snow under the boots of the Shadow Pack warriors who had gathered to watch the spectacle.
Silas didn’t move. He stood at the gates, his hands still gripping the freezing iron bars, hi
