The battlefield around the clearing reeked of blood, ash and iron.

Around Aria, snow lay trampled, crimson blood seeped into any crack it could find. The smoke from the fire burned low as the snow finally began to quench the ranging embers.

For a long suspended moment, as Aria stood in the middle of the clearing, no one moved, no one even dared to breath loudly. The Vine wolves stood completely frozen as they stared at the white wolf turned human – the same wolf who had ripped through the Raven wolves as if they were a bunch of paper dolls.

And she was a stillblood.

Alpha Alder was the...