Maelis didn't raise her voice.
She didn't need to.
The moment she turned and began walking, the crowd parted instinctively, creating a path through the cavern as naturally as water moving around stone.
Wolves stepped back, heads bowed, some watching Jasmine with open curiosity now instead of hostility.
"Come," Maelis said, glancing over her shoulder.
Jasmine hesitated.
Every instinct screamed caution. Run. Don't follow strangers deeper underground. Don't trust rebels hiding beneath a forest.
But she had already crossed too many lines to pretend safety lived in hesitation.
She nodded once and followed.
They moved through the underground settlement, deeper than Jasmine had realized it extended. The cavern opened into long corridors supported by carved stone pillars, their surfaces etched with old symbols that glowed faintly when Maelis passed.
