Special Chapter 1: Distance to Distoz

CADE

The day had been nothing but a blur of obligations and a ridiculous amount of interruptions that left me wondering if I had somehow aged fifty years in the last week.

Morning came with the same grueling cycle—training sessions with the young wolves. I wasn’t just standing on the sidelines, either. I was barking orders, correcting stances, demonstrating how to hold their ground, even wrestling a few of the cockier ones into the dirt to remind them that arrogance didn’t equate to skill. Sweat was pouring off me by the time the sun had risen fully, and the teens, even the stubborn ones, had wide-eyed respect plastered on their faces.

But the work didn’t stop when training ended. My presence was requested in a dozen different places at once—council updates, reviewing patrol formations, checking supplies. Every elder and officer seemed to think their problem deserved priority, and somehow, I was the one they all came running to.

By the time lunch rolled aroun