The world didn't end with a bang. It ended with a cold, absolute silence.
As the heavy iron gate of the beast pens crumbled into dust and the three massive winter wolves burst into the arena, a wave of pure, unadulterated chaos swept through the Council’s private amphitheater. The elite guards, who had been closing in on Silas with their silver spears, suddenly found themselves fighting for their lives against starved, giant predators that didn’t care about politics or bloodlines.
But I didn't care about the fight.
I lay on the cold sand where Kael had been restraining me, my eyes wide and unblinking. The fire of the pre-heat—the fever that had been consuming me for days, driving me to the brink of madness—was gone. It hadn't just faded. It had been violently extinguished.
My body felt
