Kaelvryn remained unconscious once again, his condition no longer something that could be explained away as illness or exhaustion. Lucas was gone, chasing answers beyond the safety of the palace walls, and the council... it was no longer what it had been.
A sharp knock at her chamber door, urgent but controlled, followed by a guard whose expression was tight that meant something had already gone wrong.
"Say it," she instructed calmly, though the quiet firmness in her tone carried a weight that made the guard straighten immediately.
"There has been an incident," he said, his voice steady but edged with unease. "One of the Ashenclaw pack members was found dead in their quarters."
Valen's gaze hardened instantly, "What?! How?" she asked, her tone sharpening.
The guard hesitated briefly.
"Unclear," he admitted. "There were no signs of struggle, no visible wounds, but the others are… unsettled."
"Unsettled becomes panic very quickly," she said under her breath.
