The first body was found at dawn.

A patrol wolf, strong and seasoned, torn open at the border where Silvercrest met the Ghostwood line. The earth around him was scorched in perfect circles — not by fire, but by something colder, older. The scent was wrong. It wasn’t blood or ash. It was emptiness.

By the time Evelyn arrived, the fog was thick enough to blur the world to shapes and shadows. The patrol stood in silence, their eyes fixed on their Luna as she knelt beside the fallen ...