đ Chapter Twenty: The Queen of Ice and the Conductor's Burden.Â
âFaelan, the Northern Alpha, remained kneeling for a long, tense moment, his head bowed, his yellow eyes fixed on the muddy, iron-streaked gravel at Elias's feet. The shock of the revelation that the Silver Wolves now commanded the Anchor through a pure, unblooded Vessel had momentarily paralyzed his tactical mind. His pack, disciplined and wary, held their formation, weapons and claws still drawn, but their aggression had been replaced by a chilling stillness. They were waiting for their Alpha's command, but Faelan himself was receiving a far greater, undeniable mandate from the raw power emanating from the boy.
âI kept my hand firmly on Elias's shoulder, projecting cold, absolute resolve through the Thorn. My own pain the throbbing ankle, the magical exhaustion, the fresh grief for Kael was irrelevant. I was a construct of defense, and my priority was the survival of the Conductor.
