Chapter 49. Do Not Give It Your Eyes

Selena’s POV

Dusk is a bruise along the river.

South bend isn’t much to look at in daylight, just rock shoulders and black water shouldering past, but as the sun slides down behind the ridge, everything takes on the color of golden anticipation.

Pines point like spears. Midges skim the surface in shivering veils, and the current talks to itself in a language I almost understand.

We arrived early. That was Caleb’s idea, which is adorable, because I was already planning to be here thirty minutes early. Our matebond vibing even without us trying. Alpha Matthew put us in a staggered diamond, the Shadow pack on the east bank, Winter Mountain on the west, a rope bridge pulled up and coiled like a sleeping snake between the two flanks. Witches pace the spine of the rocks, laying thread-thin wards that catch the light if you don’t blink. Vampires ghost the treeline because that’s what we do best. Wolves hold the ground.

Desmond stands on our side with Ol