~RYLAND'S POV~
Four days of nothing.
No creatures. No attacks. No word from Selara's direction, whatever direction that actually was. Just silence on every front, which should have been a relief and instead felt like the particular discomfort of waiting for something you know is coming and can't see yet.
We couldn't afford to read the quiet as a good sign. We couldn't afford to read it any way except as borrowed time. So we used it.
Training intensified across the board. The newly recruited werewolves, younger wolves who'd been brought into active service faster than anyone had planned for, trained in the outer yard under Cade's supervision from early morning. I watched from the upper gate one morning, arms on the rail, and let myself note what I was seeing.
