The pull came again before dawn, Mila woke with a sharp gasp, sitting upright as if yanked from sleep by invisible hands, her skin hummed, every nerve awake, the room felt wrong, too quiet, too still.
Alexander was on his feet instantly, “You felt it,” he said.
She nodded, pressing her palm to her chest. “It’s closer this time.”
Caelan was already there when they stepped into the corridor, as if he hadn’t slept at all. His expression confirmed what Mila already knew.
“It’s not searching anymore,” he said. “It’s moving.”
They gathered in the war room as the sky outside bled from black into gray. Maps were spread across the table, old ones, marked with forgotten borders and territories no pack claimed anymore.
Caelan placed his finger on a darkened region beyond the eastern range.
“Bl
