The hall had never felt this tense.
Every Alpha territory had answered the call.
They stood in clusters across the vast stone chamber, their presence heavy, their scents layered with unease and restrained aggression. Guards lined the walls. Elders watched from the upper balconies.
No one spoke loudly.
No one relaxed.
Because something was wrong with the world.
And no one understood it.
At the center of it all stood Magnus.
Calm.
Grounded.
Watching everything.
Lucien stood to his right.
Silent.
Still.
But not unaffected.
He hadn’t slept.
Not truly.
The darkness outside had not lifted. The sky remained wrong, the light dim and unnatural, as if the sun had been swallowed and the world had simply… continued without it.
And beneath that—
Something pulled at him.
Faint.
Pers
