Seren woke to screaming.
She was out of her tent before her eyes fully opened, the locket swinging against her chest, her hand reaching for the dagger Kael had given her. The camp was in chaos; soldiers running, villagers shouting, someone weeping in the darkness.
Captain Voss materialized at her side. "Your Highness. News from the south. Theron's operatives struck last night."
"Report."
"Seven targets dead. Thorne and his three lieutenants. Both quartermasters. The informant who sold border intelligence." Voss's voice was steady, but his eyes were wide. "The operation was clean. No collateral damage. But word is spreading faster than we can control."
Seren's breath caught. *Thorne is dead.*
The man who had burned villages. Who had sworn to fight until the last wolf fell. Who had made her the focus of his revenge.
Dead.
"I need to see the village," she said.
.
.
.
The square was already filling with frightened faces.
