When they separated he rested his forehead against hers the way he had the night the boy almost died.
"Then we build it," he said. "Starting now."
Outside, the southern valley held the first full day without new fever. The dens were recovering. The river ran clean.
Inside the shelter, Elara and Felix remained tangled and decided, the long months of distance finally burned away in sweat and come and the quiet certainty of a choice made with open eyes.
The summons arrived on a gray morning that smelled of wet stone and early thaw.
Lila stood in the high solar with the unopened scroll in her hands. The seal was the old mark of the northern packs — a wolf's head circled by seven stars — the same seal that had not been used in formal assembly since before she took the high seat. Magnus watched her from the window seat, one boot braced against the frame, arms folded.
"You're taking too long to break it," he said.
"I'm deciding whether I already know what it says."
