Slowly—
Damon steps back. Out of striking range. Out of immediate conflict. Smart. He’s not here to fight. Not yet.
“This isn’t a challenge,” he says. “Not today.”
My tiger growls, frustrated.
Coward.
No. Not coward. Strategist. Damon isn’t avoiding the fight. He’s delaying it. Choosing the moment that benefits him most.
“This is a declaration,” he continues. “Redwood Crossing is on my radar now. That means it’s only a matter of time.”
I hold his gaze.
“You’ll fail.”
He smiles again.
“We’ll see.”
And just like that?—
He turns. Walks back toward the treeline like he didn’t just step into another alpha’s territory and declare intent to take it. Like he’s already decided how this ends. Like he’s already won. I watch him go until he disappears beyond the boundary. Only then do I exhale. Slow.
Controlled. My tiger paces violently beneath my skin, agitated, furious, ready to give chase.
Not yet. Soon. Very soon.
By the time I get back to town, the shift has already started. They feel it. Every shifter here feels it. The tension. The warning. The beginning of something bigger than anything we’ve faced before. Magnus is waiting when I step into the council hall.
“You saw him,” he says.
“Yes.”
“And?”
I don’t sugarcoat it.
“He’s coming,” I say. “Not eventually. Soon.”
Magnus nods once.
“Then we move to full defense.”
I turn to the others gathering around us—Brooke, Delilah, the younger shifters I trained earlier, all of them looking to me now. Waiting.
“Lock it down,” I say. “Perimeter patrols every hour. No one moves alone outside the main district.”
Brooke nods immediately, already turning to relay the orders.
“Evacuate the outer edges,” Magnus adds. “Anyone too far out comes in.”
Delilah’s gaze finds mine.
“And Tessa?”
The question lands heavier than the rest. Because this?—
