Kael POV

The Bone Crown did not sleep.

By the second night it pulsed faintly, marrow-light glowing in its jagged seams. Wolves swore they heard it breathing. Some claimed it whispered in the voice of their mothers, others in the voice of the unborn.

I did not need to listen. I felt its pull in the way Ardyn shifted restlessly against me, her hand sliding down her belly, her eyes wandering toward the pelt where it waited.

The scar over my face burned hotter each hour. My fire recoiled from ...