Ayara's infiltration was complete.
The Ironveil Alpha was dead.
Not publicly. Not messily.
He simply vanished and the healer Ayara had marked stepped into his place, using whispers, fear, and the illusion of peace.
And then she sent an envoy to the council.
It was not a warning.
It was a gift.
Wrapped in black silk.
Inside was a single lock of Liora's hair.
No one knew how she got it.
Not even Kael.
The howl that ripped from him shattered the silence of the forest.
The ground trembled. Birds fled. Wolves across the region paused mid-step.
Because they had heard many things.
But they had never heard Kael lose control.
Until now.
Kael stood frozen in place, staring at the small lock of hair in his hand.
He didn't speak. Couldn't.
His fingers curled slowly around the strands...too familiar to be mistaken, too deliberate to be an accident. Liora's.
