"Trust must be earned, even in blood."

The messenger's warning clung to me like morning mist that refused to lift.

They're coming for you next... someone much worse.

Mara's broken confession replayed endlessly in my mind as I moved through the Academy's stone corridors, each whispered utterance of my name feeling sharper than wolf claws against exposed skin. Fear tried to sink its hooks into my chest, but I forced my spine straight as a sword blade, my chin lifted with hard-won pride.

If I ...