Aria’s POV......

The forest had turned quiet. Too quiet.

The kind of silence that came before something deadly. Even the wind had stilled, the air heavy with the scent of iron and rain.

Kaelen’s hand went up in a silent signal, and all of us froze.

Matilda, who was walking just ahead of me, tensed. “You smell that?” she whispered.

I inhaled — faint but sharp, metallic and cold. Not wolves. Not rogues. This was different. Older. Wrong.

Kael answered quietly. ...