Chapter 14: The Return

The silence lasted for two days. Two days of a hollow, gnawing emptiness where the bond had been. I moved through the fortress like a ghost, my silver light dimmed. The pack felt the shift, the absence of their Alpha a palpable weight, and my own subdued energy only deepened the gloom. Orion watched me with knowing eyes but said nothing. There were no more words of wisdom or cryptic scrolls. This was a path I had to walk alone. On the morning of the third day, a sentry’s cry shattered the...