The wind howled through the forest, carrying the scent of rain and something darker something that made Lyla’s skin crawl. Standing in the clearing with the rest of the Blackwood pack, she felt the weight of her new role pressing down on her. She was no longer just an outsider trying to prove herself. She was the forest’s champion, tasked with stopping a shadow that threatened to consume everything she held dear.

The memory of the Silver Grove and its trials lingered in her mind, the ...