She looked like she’d carved herself out of this mountain, all grit and stubbornness and the bare, reckless act of justbeing therein the middle of all these wolves who’d once rather have seen her gone.
His.
The bond hummed, pleased.
Not his.
Not really. Not yet. She stood with the coven, not at his side. And he was the one who’d driven her there.
Arthur forced his eyes back to the circle. He could feel Chase’s sideways look like a nudge in his ribs.
Focus.
Dominic cleared his throat, dragging everyone’s attention back.
“All right,” the Volkhov Alpha said, “We can’t afford to panic. We need a plan.”
Arthur rolled his shoulders, forcing his voice steady. “We strengthen our borders,” he said, “Double patrols. Trip the wards back from the obvious paths. If these things want to pass as human, fine. We make sure any human, or shifter, within three miles of our lines getsscannedby magic.”
Few nods from Volkhov, Severney, and even Nordan. Basic. Solid.
Leonid made a faint, bored noise.
“You want to hide behind your fences, Ice Bear?” he drawled. “Didn’t you hear Rory’s pet? They could already have infiltrated Skymist. They could already beright here.”
Dominic’s wolves bristled, Fenred growled low.
Arthur kept his voice flat. “What other choice do we have?” he said, “This town is ours to protect.”
“What’s ours to protect,” Leonid echoed, “right. The bay. Your pretty little town. Your mate.” His gaze flicked to Dani, then back. “You think they’ll stop at your posts? Your borders span hundreds of miles, and you can’t be everywhere at once. We should be out there hunting them, not waiting to see who they eat first.”
Alex nodded, predictably. “For once, Volnoye has the right of it,” he said, “we didn’t beat them last time by sitting in circles and talking. We went to Voskresen, and we took their heads off.”
A pleased murmur went through Volnoye and some of the more hot-blooded wolves. Dominic’s lot shifted, restless.
Arthur’s wolf pressed forward, wanting the simplicity of that. Find the enemy. Rip them apart. No ward puzzles, no politics. Just blood on snow and a problem solved.
Except it hadn’t been solved. That was the point.
Rory’s voice cut across the rumble, calm as falling snow.
“And yet,” he said, “here they are again.”
Leonid’s smile thinned.
“We can’t win a war we don’t understand,” Rory said, “we’ve been treating hybrids like rabid dogs. Hit fast, hit hard, hope there weren’t more behind the next ridge. It worked until it didn’t. Until they adapted.” He nodded to Kiara. “As you’ve just heard.”
Lavinia spoke up, tone cool, “We agree. Witches can’t counter what we can’t see. If their magic’s being masked, we need a look at how they’ve managed it. That means—”
“Capturing one,” Dominic finished.
His gaze met Arthur’s. Steady and patient, with an undercurrent of challenge.
Arthur clenched his jaw.
“You want to bring one into our territory on purpose?” he asked.
“On our terms,” Dominic said, “bound. Contained. With every witch and wolf we trust standing between it and our people.”
