ELLIE‘S POV
The circle was drawn, a ring of ash, bone dust, and sacred herbs etched with trembling hands, but precise enough to summon the Goddess herself. The air felt brittle, almost electric, charged with a pressure that pressed against my skin and rattled my bones. Each breath I drew seemed heavier than the last, thick with the scent of smoke, earth, and the faint metallic tang of blood left from battles past.
Wolves pressed around the edges, forming a living wall of shadows beneath the rising moon. Their eyes glimmered like coals in the darkness, glowing with expectation, hatred, and a tremor they could not entirely hide. Their whispers clawed at my consciousness, slicing through the tension like knives. Over twelve years of venom, over twelve years of whispered lies and public scor
