LUCIAN POINT OF VIEW

Something was wrong.

I had known it long before any messenger could arrive with news. Long before rumors began crawling across borders or scouts returned with fragmented reports. The certainty had settled into me hours earlier, quiet at first, then impossible to ignore.

The bond would not let me rest.

I stood at the tall window of my chamber, hands braced against the cold stone frame as night stretched endlessly beyond my pack’s territory. Darkness covered the forest ...