"The most powerful, magnificent, and tragically overlooked creature in the North is you."
SERAPHINE'S POV
The Royal Keep felt cold, sterile, and suffocating. It was a granite tomb filled with tension so thick you could choke on it. I had spent the last two days fighting through the final chaotic ripples of the collapsing Western Alliance, arriving back in the Northern Kingdom Capital with a mind already exhausted by politics and a heart that felt unnervingly empty.
The emptiness was the absence of his Majesty Alaric. I walked the length of the command hall, the polished marble reflecting the dim, emergency lighting. The guards were strained, their faces grim, their posture too rigid. Every wolf in the Keep knew something terrible had happened, but no one would speak the truth aloud. I found Commander Varro the Beta that his Majesty Alaric had left in charge in the council annex, his brow furrowed over a dozen conflicting reports.
