Three days had passed since the battle.
Three days of burying the dead, tending the wounded, and trying to process the fact that they had survived something that should have killed them all. The camp had slowly transformed from a battlefield into something almost resembling a community—tents pitched, fires lit, routines established.
But Lena still felt like a stranger.
She moved among the wolves—Kael's pack—with careful steps, watching the way they looked at her. Some with curiosity. Some with suspicion. A few with something that looked almost like fear.
"They're not sure what to make of you," Kael admitted that morning. They stood at the edge of the camp, watching the sun rise over the mountains. "A hybrid. Part wolf, part vampire. It's... unusual."
"Unusual." Lena laughed without hu
