The wind changed when we crossed the forest’s threshold.
Not in strength, but in the whisper it carried.
As if the trees themselves recognized our return.
As if the earth was ready to listen.
At my sides, I felt the steady presence of Kael and Lean, walking as if they’d finally set down the weight of the world—even if it still clung to their shoulders. Zack was behind, guarding the flank, always alert. And Sage… Sage still carried the air of someone not fully back from a battlefield. But in his eyes burned something new. A peace that, though fragile, felt real.
That’s when the house appeared.
Large, solid, made of black wood and living stone. It wasn’t a palace, but it felt more imposing than any throne I’d ever seen.
The heart of the pack. Of its story. Of its legacy.
Suddenly, a
