Dawn's POV
The air in the pack house was thick with anticipation, and I could feel it crawling under my skin like a predator circling its prey. I'd been waiting for this moment, the one that would finally bring clarity—or shatter everything.
Bambi was asleep in the private room, curled beneath the blankets, her chest rising and falling so delicately it made my teeth ache with desire and worry. I had refused to leave her side after the events in the Whispering Caves, my obsession a tight, unrelenting coil in my chest.
The sound of the carriage wheels on the cobblestones announced her arrival before I even opened the door.
"Calandra's here," my second-in-command muttered, bowing his head. His voice was quiet, but I didn't need words to sense the tension radiating off him.
I didn't answer. My dark eyes were fixed on the door as it opened. The familiar figure of my aunt stepped in, her presence commanding and unnerving all at once.
