Sean's POV
The rain clears just as afternoon settles over our territory. Damp pine fills the air, mixing with woodsmoke drifting from cabin chimneys. An unsettling quiet blankets the pack grounds. The kind of stillness that makes my muscles tense. It always comes before everything goes sideways.
I shoulder through the main hall doors and step inside.
The usual chaos of pack life surrounds me immediately. Voices overlap, boots echo across wooden floors, and the sharp clatter of medical equipment being sorted fills every corner. Juliette and Sally have claimed the central table, transforming it into command central. Papers, supply boxes, and medical gear cover every available surface.
Ajax hunches over his tablet at the room's far end, sleeves pushed up past his elbows. Dark circles shadow his eyes like bruises. The man looks like he hasn't seen a bed in days, which knowing him, he probably hasn't. When Ajax gets his teeth into a problem, sleep becomes optional.
