Chapter 66 - The First Move
The messenger arrived breathless.
Mud streaked up his legs. Blood on his sleeve that wasn't his own.
Silas saw him before he spoke and already knew.
"They struck the outer patrol," the wolf said. "Eastern ridge. Ambush. They vanished before we could track them."
Athena felt the words like a jolt through her chest.
"Casualties?" Rowan asked.
"Injured. Three. One bad."
Silas didn't hesitate. "Get them to the healing wing. Now."
Athena was already moving before he finished speaking.
By the time the first wolf was carried through the doors, she had water ready, cloths laid out, and Elara at her side.
The injured wolf groaned as he was lowered onto the bench. A deep burn marked his shoulder, the skin angry and blistered in unnatural patterns.
Athena's breath caught.
"That's not from a blade," she said.
"No," Elara agreed. "Mage fire."
Athena swallowed hard and got to work.
Her hands moved quickly, calmly, like the shock hadn't touched her at all. She spoke softly to the injured wolf as she cleaned the burn, applying salve with careful precision.
Another wolf was brought in with a deep gash along his thigh.
Then the third.
The room filled with urgency but not panic.
Athena felt something settle into her chest again - the same calm she had felt before.
The same certainty.
She belonged here.
Silas stood in the doorway, watching.
Watching her.
Watching the way she didn't freeze.
Didn't hesitate.
Didn't ask what to do.
She just did it.
Rowan stepped beside him quietly.
"This changes things," Rowan said.
Silas nodded once.
His eyes never left Athena.
"Yes."
He watched her press cloth gently against a burn, whispering reassurance to a wolf twice her size.
Her face was focused.
Determined.
Unafraid.
Silas's jaw tightened.
This was no longer a standoff.
It was the beginning of war.