The First Domino
The air was so cold it burned, the wind a howling ghost that tore at their cloaks. The unified pack, a silent, disciplined force, stood a mile from the mouth of the glacier. The silence was broken only by the whip of the wind and the subtle, rhythmic hum of the essence-dampening fields that emanated from the compound. Dr. Aris Thorne's fortress was an unblinking eye in the mountainside, a black, sterile void in the heart of a world teeming with life.
Kieran stood with Lyra, his hand a steady presence on her back. Their connection, a silent sea of shared consciousness, was their command center. Around them, the pack waited, their breathing slow and steady, their auras held in tight control.
“The first phase is a go, Alpha,” Derek's thoughts resonated, clear and confid
