The border had not settled after Nightfang’s deliberate test.It had grown quieter.Too quiet.For three nights, both packs maintained disciplined patrols along Veilwood’s edge. No one crossed. No claws marked soil. No messages were carved into bark. The forest stood still as if holding its breath.And then—A howl shattered the silence.It came just before dawn, low and fractured, not the territorial cry of a pack wolf. Not a signal. Not a challenge.It was raw.Broken.Wrong.Ayla woke instantly, her body already tense before her mind caught up. The sound lingered inside her chest like an echo trapped beneath her ribs. It wasn’t directed