The moon had not yet risen, but Henrietta felt the same. It pressed against her skin like a coming storm.
The air in Gideon's pack carried that tension now, the kind that made wolves restless and humans uneasy without knowing why.
Gideon led her beyond the inner grounds, past the stone dwellings and watch posts, toward a clearing no one used unless necessary.
"This far?" Henrietta asked, keeping herself calm.
"Yes."
His answer was brusque. He stopped only when the forest thinned into a wide ring of flattened earth, scorched in places by old claw marks and burned sigils. The scent of past battles lingered here.
Henrietta's pulse quickened. "This isn't a sparring ground," she uttered.
"No," Gideon agreed. "It's a restraint field."
She turned to him sharply. "You said we weren't shi
