Kai POV
I step out of Leila’s room, her wildflower scent still clinging to me like a lifeline, her trembling voice— “flashes of gunshots, silver”—echoing in my mind, each word tightening the knot of dread in my chest. Atlas paces within me, his low whine urging me to stay with Leila, to shield her from the storm Kael’s words unleashed: lost heir, Shadow Ridge, silver-proof blood. Leila, the heir? It fits too well—her bullet wounds, her silent wolf, her missing past.
And then Dax… my Beta, my brother, bound to a rogue who attacked us. Kael’s amber eyes and what she had to say churn in my thoughts, raising a fear I can’t voice yet. My boots thud softly on the floor, my body aching from the fight, the silver’s burn still a dull throb in my shoulder, but it’s the weight of these revelations
