Marcus Vane reached the north field before sunset. Not as a raider. Not as an envoy. As an Alpha with banners. Hundreds of wolves filled the snow below Blackthorn's outer wall. Vane blue. Steel.

Cavalry behind infantry. Siege hooks. Two portable rams. No more deniabilit

Judgment began after sunrise. Lucian was still in the infirmary. Alive. Stable enough that the healer no longer used the word critical. Not well enough to sit in a hall.

This was not his judgment to watch from a throne. Frostmere Hall had survived the fighting with

Three weeks after the judgment, Lucian stood in the great hall without an Alpha cloak. He still moved carefully. The healer had cleared him to walk, work, and be irritating. Not to fight.

Isolde had asked the healer specifically. I had not. She told me the answer anyway