Dawn broke over Great Oak Falls like molten gold spilling through the trees.
Emily sat on the porch steps, Jack nestled in the crook of her arm, eyes half-closed in sleep. The morning air was crisp, carrying the scent of pine, damp earth, and something older—something alive that pulsed beneath the forest floor. She shivered despite the warmth of her sweater.
Bellamy Alderidge was already moving. He didn’t speak. He didn’t wait for her. His movements were fluid, deliberate, like a predator who had spent centuries in perfect harmony with the land.
“Today,” he said finally, voice low and steady, “you train. With me. With the pack. Fully.”
Emily blinked. “Fully?”
He didn’t elaborate. He just tilted his head toward the edge of the yard, where the shimmer of the boundary marked the beginnin
