Chapter 57

Viktor's forces didn't charge immediately. Instead, they formed up at the edge of the clearing, a wall of warriors that seemed to stretch endlessly from Arianna's vantage point on the compound walls.

Two hundred wolves in disciplined formation. Waiting.

"He's trying to intimidate us," Helena observed quietly beside Arianna. "Wants us to see what we're facing, to lose hope before the fighting even starts."

"Is it working?" Arianna asked.

"On some of the younger fighters, probably. But your speech helped." Helena's expression was grim. "We just need to hold until Lycaon arrives. That's all. Just hold."

A single wolf separated from Viktor's formation—the same scarred envoy who'd delivered...