Chapter 95. Back to My Father’s Pack

Alison’s POV

The landscape of Crimson Pack stretched before me, but it was nothing like I remembered. As the car bumped along the uneven road, I stared out the window, trying to reconcile the lively place I once came to call home with the desolation that now greeted me. The streets were eerily quiet, the bustling squares I used to love reduced to barren stretches. Shops stood half-empty, and the market stalls sagged under the weight of neglect. The vibrant pulse of life had dimmed, leaving behind a haunting stillness.

A knot tightened in my stomach. What the hell had happened here?

The driver, one of Xander’s guards, glanced at me in the rearview mirror. His tense expression mirrored my own unease, but neither of us spoke. Words felt inadequate in the face of this oppressive gloom.

When we reached the gates of my father’s castle, the guards stepped forward, their eyes narrowing as they scrutinized the car. One of them approached the window, his hand re