The forest had gone quiet again.
But it wasn't the peaceful kind of quiet.
It was the heavy silence that followed violence.
Smoke from torches drifted across the courtyard while warriors moved slowly through the aftermath of the battle. Some dragged broken pieces of the gate aside. Others carried wounded pack members toward the healer's hall.
Blood stained the stone ground in dark patches.
Blackclaw had won the fight.
But victory never came without a cost.
Selene stood near the center of the courtyard, watching the healers work. Her hands were still slightly stained with blood from helping move injured warriors earlier.
Kai sat on the edge of the fountain, breathing hard but grinning like someone who had just lived through the greatest moment of his life.
"That was insane," he said.
Rowan sat beside him, quieter than usual. His spear leaned against the fountain wall, the tip dark with dried blood.
Selene approached them.
"Are either of you hurt?"
Kai shook his head.
