The world had been kneeling for so long that the silence felt unreal.
Leaves hung suspended in the air like they had forgotten how gravity worked. Wolves knelt in perfect stillness across the clearing, bodies pressed to the dirt, throats exposed. Even the wind had stopped moving. Every sound had been pulled out of the forest by the same force that held every wolf in a forced bow.
Asterin.
He stood at the center of the clearing, the light from the runes on his arms flickering like a heartbeat. His face was carved calm, not human but close enough that it made my stomach twist. Those silver eyes stayed locked on me, waiting.
Expecting obedience.
My mark burned hotter than fire. The pain shot up my arm, then into my shoulder, then straight across my ribs. It felt alive, pulling, stretchin
