ALICE POV
As I step outside the packhouse, the air feels charged, thick with a tension I can't shake. The sky above is overcast, the forest dense and brooding around us, like it’s watching, waiting. Each day the unease grows heavier, creeping into every corner of the pack, and now it’s spilling over into my own life. Grayson’s death, Brittany’s mysterious condition, and the wolfsbane poisoning our warriors—it all feels too coincidental, too orchestrated. Harmony’s version of events doesn’t add up, and I know, deep down, she’s hiding something. But that’s a problem for another time.
Today, I have a different storm to face—my mother.
Mom’s plane landed less than an hour ago, and the thought of explaining this life to her, of exposing her to this world of werewolves and pack politics, mak
