Another patrol arrived from the southern ridge, mud streaking their legs, breath sharp.
“Alpha,” one said, stepping forward, “movement on three fronts. Organized. Looks like the scouts said. At least fifty.”
Fifty was the polite estimate. Fifty usually meant seventy. I nodded.
Diesel squared his shoulders. “They want to box us in.”
“They want to see if we’ll panic,” Killian corrected. “It’s a pressure tactic.”
He was right. The Council liked spectacle. They wanted our pack to feel cornered before another blow landed. The Hollow pulsed under my feet, stronger—like it was pressing power upward, offering itself.
I crouched down and laid my palm on the ridge soil, feeling it vibrate beneath my hand, warm and alive. The land was bracing.
“They know the ritual happened,” I said.
Killian nodded once. “I’d bet my life they felt it from wherever their tents are pitched.”
Diesel snorted. “They’re bitches but not blind.”
A howl broke across the western flank—warning, not attack—followed by Henry’s voice through the mindlink. “Alpha. Wolves running right for us. They’re not slowing down.”
My teeth bared. “How many?”
“Too many.”
I quickly filled Diesel and Killian in.
Killian stiffened. “This doesn’t feel right,” he muttered.
“No,” I growled. “Let’s move.”
We ran to Henry.
“They still can’t cross unless you let them,” Killian said, but it lacked conviction.
Because the truth was we no longer knew. Just like Stonefang was protected when Diesel and I weren’t there. The barrier sealed my pack in, keeping them safe. No one in and no one out.Safe.
Until they weren’t.
I felt Rowen through the bond—alert, steady, present. “Wolfe?”
“With Killian and Diesel,I answered. “Heading west.”
“The druid says the Hollow is shifting.”
Before I could ask what she meant, the ground beneath me pulsed twice—hard—the equivalent of a slammed door.
Diesel yelped in surprise. “Was that…?”
“Yeah,”I said quietly. “The Hollow’s warning.”
Henry and his patrol were waiting for us. We shifted back to our human forms, pulling on loose shorts as we watched a pack of wolves running up the ridge.
I leaned forward. “Fuck.”
My arm shot out, holding Diesel back. “The barrier, it’s still up. Stay here.”
Killian jerked in surprise. “Holy shit, is that?—”
