"Double-check every weapon," I instructed, my hand resting on the shoulder of a young warrior whose eyes burned with a fire only youth could kindle. "And ensure the healers have all they require. There will be no room for error."

"Every detail has been accounted for, my queen," assured a seasoned pack elder, his scars a testament to battles past. "Our storerooms are stocked, and the sentinels are alert."

"Good," I replied, scanning the horizon where darkness loomed, a harbinger of the chaos to ...