“We’ve got too many unfamiliar wolves in the Hollow,” I told them, keeping my voice low. “And I just saw two disappear behind the storehouse when they saw me coming.”
Killian swore under his breath as Brand looked past me, eyes narrowing. “We need to close ranks.”
“Exactly.” Kilian was already moving. “We start with pulling the western perimeter in—station guards at every choke point in the Hollow. Only us or vetted Stonefang wolves go near the alpha’s house or the pack’s central stores. I want at least two of ours at every junction.”
“Patrol the ridge?” Brand asked, already thinking ahead.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “We’re not defending against an outside force.”
Killian looked at me. “You think they’re already here?”
I nodded. “I know it.” I looked around us. “I just don’t know where.”
He blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Alright. I’ll handpick the patrols myself. Anyone new or anyone acting even remotely twitchy—they’re detained, questioned, and disarmed. No exceptions.”
“Thalia already has people gathering the pups and elders in the west wing. Put someone in charge of securing it from the inside.”
“Bash,” Killian said instantly. “No one gets through him.”
“Good.” I met their gazes. “Blueridge Hollow holds, no question.”
“We burn anyone who tries otherwise,” Brand corrected grimly, then took off without waiting for dismissal.
I turned toward the main trail that led through the pack grounds, scanning again. Watching every step. Every blink. Every shifter that moved, assessing if they were too still or too calm.
My skin prickled as my wolf bristled beneath the surface. Not panic. Not yet. But whatever this was—it was ready to strike.
“We need to move,” I told Killian, turning toward the south. My eyes locked on the storage shed. “They’re going to flank us.”
We started jogging to the southern ridge, when the scent of blood hit first. Sharp. Coppery. Wrong.
Then came the screaming.
Not fear. Not yet.
The first screams were warnings—howls laced with urgency, not terror. The kind that split the air just seconds before impact.
Then the ground trembled. Not from the wind. Not from the weather.
From wolves.
Dozens. Maybe more.
Killian and I stopped and immediately went into defensive mode as I took it all in. These weren’t rogues from the wilds. They weren’t shadows slinking through the trees.
These shifters had names. Had walked my father’s halls. Slept under our roof. They were traitors who waited.
Who watched.
Who waited for Wolfe to be gone and for me to be alone to defend my home. My pack. They thought that with Wolfe gone, I would be vulnerable.
They thought wrong.
Killian was steady at my side. “They’re coming from the east, the ridge. But we’ve got movement in the north flanks too. This is coordinated.”
My breath left me in a sharp burst. “They waited for us to split. Just now, they waited until Diesel was gone. Brand and the others, we’re split up.”
“No matter.” Killian nodded once, then bared his teeth. “They underestimated us.”
