[Damian's POV]

The alarms came without warning. It was a single, piercing siren, a raw shriek that cut through the still night and tore through Emberwood’s quiet facade.

The sound was not the low, growling warning of an intruder, but the high, panicked wail of an imminent threat—the signal for a full-scale attack on Alaric's territory.

My body, honed by years of leadership and combat, reacted without thought. I was out of my study and halfway down the stairs before the sound had even ...