I watched their faces, each one a canvas of shock and disbelief. Alpha Eamon's eyes widened, the muscles in his jaw twitching as if grappling with the venomous truth. Whispers slithered through the room like serpents, coiling around loyalties and squeezing tight.

"Impossible," someone breathed, a sentiment echoed in the quivering voices and incredulous stares that darted from me to Marrok and back again.

"Believe what your eyes behold," I declared, my voice slicing through the din of confusion. ...