The team left at midday. Kane and Rylan rode at the front, leading twenty of our best wolves south. I stood on the wall with Darius and Lila, watching them go. The bond stretched but didn't break. I felt their determination through it, sharp and ready.
Darius's arm stayed around my waist. "They'll burn what's left of his supplies. He'll feel it."
I nodded. Lila stirred in my arms, making a small sound. I pressed a kiss to her dark hair. "And when they come back, we start changing the laws. No more women sold like meat. No more pups used as threats. This pack becomes ours completely."
The wind picked up, carrying the faint scent of smoke from the south. My father was retreating, but he wasn't finished.
The curse was broken enough to let us breathe.
The war with Shadowpine was far from over.
And the North was finally going to learn what a queen with a newborn and three feral kings looked like when she was done being nice.
