Chapter Forty

Dawn broke with unnatural silence.

Marina woke to find the world frozen. Literally frozen. Silvain stood mid-motion beside the bed, his hand reaching for his weapon, his body locked in perfect stillness. Through the bond, she felt nothing. Not death, but absence. As if time itself had stopped for everyone except her and her daughters.

She ran to the nursery. Found it empty.

Panic clawed at her chest until she felt the pull. A summons, gentler than the First Wolf's original call but no less compelling. Leading her toward the eastern forest where morning light barely penetrated the ancient trees.

Marina shifted to wolf form and ran. Her...