Smoke still curled in the air as the first of the Wrenvale survivors limped into the main camp. A child's sob broke the silence, the sound brittle and raw.
Aria knelt before the girl, her clothes singed and stained with blood, her eyes too old for someone so young.
"What's your name?" Aria mouthed gently, her hands trembling as she brushed the stain from the child's cheek.
The girl didn't answer. She simply stared at her, broken, and raised a hand to point toward the east—toward where Wrenvale once stood.
Aria's chest tightened. It wasn't just a strike.
It was a massacre.He had killed these innocent people
By midday, news of the attack had spread through the alliance like wildfire. Warriors wept silently mourning the loss of their loved ones. Healers clutched each other, knowing they'd lost kin. Even the most hardened Alphas stood stunned at the cruelty Ronan had displayed.
Kael entered Aria's tent, his face drawn and jaw clenched. "He wanted to provoke us."
