(Daciana POV)
The unborn child’s heartbeat echoed across the sacred field, and every wolf stood frozen beneath the weight of Otsana’s warning.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Each beat sounded too small to carry two kingdoms, yet every pulse made Blackfang and Northridge wolves step farther apart.
I watched fear move through them like fire through dry grass, fast, hungry, and ready to burn whoever stood closest.
Blackfang stared at Ashina’s stomach with horror, because the woman they had almost crowned again now carried a child that could e*****e them.
Northridge stared at Gonzalo with broken trust, because their king’s most loyal captain had become part of the weapon aimed at them.
And everyone stared at me like my blood had become the door, the key, and the battlefield all at once.
I
