Serafina placed the heavy leather folder on her lap, her bandaged hand resting hesitantly on the cover. The firelight flickered across the Northern crest, casting long, dancing shadows across the polished mahogany floor of Kaelen’s suite.

"Everything?" Serafina asked, looking up at him. "Elena is

Julian Graves paced the length of his ruined office, his heavy boots crunching over the shattered glass that still littered the floor. The East Wing of the estate was a smoldering, blackened skeleton, a glaring monument to his humiliation. The scent of ash and scorched mahogany hung heavy in the air

The Obsidian Citadel was a monument to ancient Lycanthrope law, a colossal amphitheater carved directly into the black volcanic rock of the neutral territories. Its towering pillars were wrapped in centuries of ivy, and the circular seating arrangement was designed to ensure that no Alpha, no matter