The battlefield had reached its breaking point.
Smoke curled through the shattered valley. Wolves from every pack stood battered and bleeding, but none dared retreat. The air itself seemed to vibrate with the clash of two forces that refused to yield.
At the center stood Kael Draven.
Across from him Aurelia and the four Alphas who had chosen to stand beside her.
For a moment, everything was still.
Even the wind had stopped.
Kael rolled his shoulders slowly, his armor cracked and dark with blood. Yet the aura around him burned brighter than ever, crimson energy whipping around his body like a storm refusing to die.
"You feel it now, don't you?" Kael said, voice low but carrying across the valley.
Aurelia didn't answer immediately.
Because she did feel it.
The throne's power had spread through the entire battlefield. Golden veins of energy ran through the ground like roots of an ancient tree. Every wolf standing on that land was connected to it.
Connected to her.
