The wind carried a warning.

Not from the bond.

Not from the packs.

From something else.

Something that had never needed words to speak.

The whisper had been pushed back.

But it wasn’t gone.

It was waiting.

Watching.

And Lyla knew

The next battle wasn’t far away.

It was already here.

The pack reached Silverwood by dawn.

But the town didn’t feel the same.

The streets were quieter.

The air was thicker.

And the wolves they passed

They weren’t ...