Adrian pov
The post-ceremony feast was supposed to be a time of celebration, a moment of unity for the pack after everything we had endured. Alana and I had just cemented our bond, the entire pack had witnessed our union, and for a brief moment, the weight of the world seemed to lift. The laughter, the music, the chatter, it should have been the perfect ending to what had been the most life-altering period of my life. But nothing ever seemed to stay peaceful for long.
It all started with a strange hush falling over the crowd, a murmur that spread quickly, like a whisper in the wind. The air grew thick with tension, the atmosphere shifting from joy to something darker and more foreboding.
Then I saw Lucian. My former Beta, he was my beta till he started working with thorn, he was bloodied and battered, standing at the entrance of the hall, his chest heaving with exhaustion, his face smeared with dirt and blood.
