SEBASTIAN
The Ironspire Depot smelled like loss and fear. Old metal hung in the air. Sweat clung to the walls. Blood had soaked into the concrete and never fully dried. Every breath reminded me of what this place had become.
I stood among what was left of my force. It should have been an army. Rows of disciplined fighters. Instead, there were barely two dozen wolves left. These were the only ones who had not bent. The only ones who had not listened to her voice and walked away.
The others had left without a fight.
They did not shout. They did not hesitate. They simply turned and went, as if something inside them had gone quiet. They abandoned their Alpha. Their duty. Their nature.
“She twisted them,” I snarled, pacing between the rows of rough bunks. My boots echoed too loudly in the
