Korren listened.
That was always the first step.
The fire crackled low in the stone hearth of the half-ruined lodge, its light casting long shadows across the warped beams overhead. Snow pressed against the windows, muffling the outside world, but Korren did not feel trapped by it.
He felt concealed.
The wolf who had escaped Hale’s Crest stood near the door, posture stiff, eyes darting anywhere but toward Korren himself. He smelled of fear and frostbite and failure—but also of something else.
Certainty.
“They welcomed the twins,” the scout said again, voice rough. “Formally. Alpha declaration.”
Korren’s fingers stilled where they rested against the table.
So Rowan Hale had chosen defiance.
Good.
Korren leaned back slowly, studying the fire as if the answer might rise from the fla
