Chapter 12. The Squirrel Threat

Third-Person POV

Marcus assembled more than a hundred soldiers and marched toward the shadowed woods rumored to conceal the infamous all-female pack. He seethed at Leon’s constant condescension and the humiliations he had endured as beta, yet he remained trapped beneath that title. Still, he nursed his own ambitions in secret, waiting for the perfect moment to act.

By nightfall, they reached the forest’s edge. Marcus raised his hand in a silent signal, and his men fanned out, moving soundlessly among the gnarled trunks. Each man pressed close to the rough bark, eyes scanning for the slightest movement. Legends warned that, though the pack was comprised entirely of women, they were ferocious—and that no one who crossed into their territory ever returned alive.

Marcus dismissed the tales as exaggeration. How could mere women pose such a threat? He intended to see the truth with his own eyes but tempered his pride with caution, aware that one misstep could cos