Axel's POV

The air in the room felt thick, heavy with a tension I couldn’t quite shake. It wasn’t the usual type of fear that gripped me before a fight. No, this was different. It was the kind of uncertainty that gnawed at your bones, a quiet dread that whispered over and over: What if this is the last time we have peace? The last time that we ever had this kind of calm in our lives was because the next few weeks were bound to take them from us.

What if we didn’t survive the battle to ...