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He couldn't help his thoughts from spilling into Fae's mind now that he had lowered the barriers between them, keeping nothing from her.

"Mom? Da?"

"Maxen?"

"The children?"

Even before another word was spoken, the dread climbed to unbearable levels.

"What happened?" His voice was tightly controlled.

Inside his head, a thousand horrors clawed for dominance.An ambush. A rogue pack. A border skirmish. All lives lost.

His name was Gramm, but today he looked less like a warrior and more like a man who would rather be anywhere else. "We have had a few..."Blaidd's jaw tightened. "Speak plainly."

Gramm's eyes flickered to Fae, then back. "We have found Bowen."

For a heartbeat, hope flared—found meant alive.

But Gramm could not meet his gaze. "He...we are not sure what happened... I am sorry."

Silence fell like a blade.

Fae made a soft, strangled sound beside Blaidd. She had cared for Bowen since he was eight .

Blaidd took a step back.

The world tilted.

Silent Bowen, who always followed his sister's lead.

Dead.

A strange, ugly truth slid through him before he could stop it.

The grief was there, but it did not tear him open. Bowen had not been born of his body. It was difficult for wolves to connect unless there was a deep emotional bond. The humans may bond, but the wolf could only consider cubs borne of another a threat to their own offspring. The wolf knew blood, the scent from birth.

The wolf knew what was his, and Bowen had never been entirely that.

"How?" Blaidd asked, though he wasn't sure he wanted the answer.

Gramm's voice dropped with residual shock. "There were...no visible wounds. No blood. His body was...desiccated. As though the life had been drawn from him."

Fae's hand subconsciously found Blaidd's sleeve.

Cold. She was freezing.

"There is more," Gramm said, trudging on.

"Say it."

"Orig was on hunt, but he never returned. We found him two weeks after he went missing."

"He was the same," Gramm continued. "No sign of struggle. No blood. Just...his dried-out remains."

"And Lyda," Gramm forced out. "She went to collect herbs in the valley. She was told not to go alone after we found Orig…"

Lyda. Gentle Lyda, who braided flowers into Eira's hair.