Chapter 52 — The Aftermath of War

Morning came like a reluctant apology.

The battlefield no longer roared; it breathed. Smoke faded into ash. Fallen bodies lay wrapped in white cloth, lined in rows across the open field. Wolves stood beside their dead—soldiers, brothers, sisters, friends. Some cried openly. Some stared blankly. Some stood so still grief had turned them into stone.

Victory never felt like triumph.

It felt like what it truly was—

Survival… with a price.

Serena stood ...