The days following the storm had been heavy with a stillness that didn’t feel like peace. It was the kind of quiet that came before the earth cracked open beneath your feet. A quiet that pressed on the lungs and made each breath feel like a mistake.
I stood on the ridge just above the training fields, arms folded as I watched the young warriors spar below. Their grunts echoed across the clearing—fists meeting flesh, claws dragging through dirt. Kane had doubled the training sessions. Not because he doubted our strength, but because we couldn’t afford to be anything less than perfect now.
Syren had made her first move, and none of us believed she would stop with just an outpost.
I felt his presence before he said a word. Kane moved silently through the trees when he wanted to, but I’d lo
