Isla's POV
The carriage wheels crunched against gravel, and Isla's heart stopped.
She could see Silvercrest through the window. The great packhouse that had felt like a fortress when she left it. The grounds where Damien had publicly rejected her. The halls where Vivienne had laughed at her pain.
Everything looked smaller now.
Beside her, Cassian sat perfectly still, his presence filling the carriage like controlled lightning. He wore all black, no insignia, no decoration. He didn't need them. His power was so obvious it practically hummed through the air.
"Breathe," he said quietly.
Isla realized she had stopped breathing.
Outside, she could hear the commotion. Wolves transforming. Alphas shouting orders. Word must have spread that a royal carriage was arriving. That the Lycan King himself had come to Silvercrest.
Kaia and Ezra rode alongside them on horseback, their presence making the entire convoy look like an invasion.
