By dawn, Mooncrest Academy was surrounded.
Serena stood atop the shattered remains of the outer wall, watching the tree line fill with wolves in numbers she couldn't begin to count—banners from packs she'd only read about in Aldren's history lectures, torches stretching in an unbroken ring around the entire campus.
"Thousands," Cassian breathed beside her, disbelief cracking through his usual composure. "I've never seen this many packs gathered in one place. Not for a treaty summit. Not for anything."
"The Council must have sent word to every territory the moment the bells rang," Kael said grimly, joining them on the wall, his expression tight with barely restrained fury. "They're not calling for reinforcements. They're calling for an execution."
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A messenger wolf approached the ga
