Chapter 26. Crownless Kings

The Ridge was gone. But the fight hadn’t followed it down.

What was left of the Wolves circled on the far stretch of asphalt, engines growling, headlights cutting through smoke. Their jackets were torn, their faces streaked with dust and blood. But their eyes burned sharp, hungry.

Axel stood in the center, helmet dangling from one hand, chest heaving. His eyes were raw, wide, as if the fire of the Ridge still blazed behind them.

Riven was at his side, scraped palms bleeding, jacket torn, her pulse pounding louder than the engines. Kenzie hovered just beyond, chain coiled in her fist, blonde hair wild in the floodlight glare.

The Wolves’ voices cracked sharp through the night.

“He killed Magnus!”

“He’s Wolfe blood!”

“He’s ours now!”

“No king!”

The shouts clashed, colliding, until the canyon itself seemed to shake with them.

The lieutenant’s absence was a hole. Magnus’s fall was a scar.

But wolves without a leader don’t