KELLY THOMPSON'S POV

The heavy thud of the war room door echoed through the silence as he entered, a gust of cold air swirling around him like the whispers of impending doom. Alpha King Jason's face was a mask of shadows, his piercing blue eyes ablaze with a fire that spoke volumes before his lips ever parted. My heart clenched, sensing the gravity of what he was about to divulge.

"Kelly," he began, urgency sharpening his voice to a fine edge. "I have returned with ill tidings."

I straightened ...