The council chamber was heavy with smoke and silence. Torches burned low, casting long shadows across the runes carved into the stone walls. The elders sat rigid, their eyes sharp as knives, while warriors lined the room with restless energy. The air itself seemed to tremble with expectation, as if every wolf in Moonshadow knew something was about to break.

Bella sat at Alfred’s side, her hands folded tightly in her lap. She could feel the storm inside her pulsing again, that faint golden ...