Aaron’s POV

The car pulled into the villa’s drive as dusk fell. Snowflakes drifted sporadically, streetlamps stretching my shadow like a weary lone wolf. I’d spent the day drilling the third army—progress solid. Lucas’s influence lingered, but bending those soldiers fully to me would take time.

Arthur growled low inside me, scenting home—Fiona’s warmth, Elin’s crisp edge, laced with faint sorrow. But today, Elin’s scent was thinner, like smoke in the wind, slipping through ...