Kieran’s POV

The night tastes like iron and old blood when I cross the boundary into Killian’s territory.

I don’t announce myself.

I don’t need to.

The land knows me.

It resists me too.

The wards shiver as I pass through them, not strong enough to stop me, but sharp enough to remind me that I am not welcome. That I never was. The pack forest is darker than mine—trees dense, shadows heavy, the air thick with dominance that feels strained, fraying at the edges.

Killian is ...