Rowan was not at the training yard the next morning.
Lois led the drills alone. When Nyssa asked where the Alpha was, he said the Alpha was attending to pack business. Aria noticed the absence but said nothing. She sparred with Nyssa, took her laps, and tried not to look at the empty space where Rowan usually stood.
The private library was in the north tower, behind a door that only Rowan opened.
The room was small and windowless. Dust coated every surface. Shelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling, crammed with leather bound volumes and rolled scrolls and manuscripts so old their pages crumbled at the edges. A single lantern burned on the desk. It was his only source of light.
Rowan had been there before dawn.
He sat hunched over a tome so large it took both hands to lift. The pa
