Malrik POV
Sleep had only just begun to drag me under when a sharp knock cleaved through the silence.
I jerked awake, groggy but instantly alert. Midnight. My instincts bristled. Who in their right mind would come knocking at this hour?
This wasn’t my territory. That alone had my senses sharpening like blades. I reached out across the pack bond for Vladan only to find a dead end. He was buried deep in sleep. No backup.
Pushing off the bed, I moved toward the door, muscles coiled tight, ready to demand a name. Before I could, a voice cut through the wood.
“It’s me, Malrikarion.”
Quillan.
“I’d be a fool to strike at you in my own territory,” he added smoothly. “I just want to talk. Since you’ve tucked yourself away at the edge of the grounds, this was the only chance I had to slip fre
