The Obsidian Ridge Pack ballroom was a masterpiece of architectural wealth, a sprawling cathedral of glass, gold, and polished black marble. Tonight, it was illuminated by a thousand floating candles, casting a warm, deceptive glow over the three hundred pack members gathered in their finest formal

The ballroom plunged into a silence so absolute it felt like a physical weight pressing against the chest of every wolf in the room. Three hundred members of the Obsidian Ridge Pack stared at the dais, their champagne flutes frozen in mid-air, their breaths held hostage by the sheer, unadulterated b

Darius stared at the obsidian seal resting in Gideon’s outstretched hand, his chest rising and falling in ragged, panicked heaves. The color had drained completely from his face, leaving a sickly, pale sheen beneath his crimson eyes.

Nora reached out and took the heavy stone. The moment her fingers