Spring should have brought peace.
Instead, it brought tension thick enough to choke on.
The snow had melted around Blue Lake Pack, revealing dark earth and sharp green shoots pushing through frozen ground. The lake itself was no longer silent — cracks had widened into shifting sheets of water that groaned softly under the changing temperature.
Everything was moving.
Changing.
Preparing.
Arianna felt it in her bones.
She stood at the edge of the training grounds, watching warriors spar with controlled aggression. Her recovery had been steady but slow. The healers insisted she avoid intense exertion, especially now that her pregnancy was entering its second month.
That knowledge still made her breath catch sometimes.
A child.
A future.
Something worth fighting for.
Alexander had
