Chapter 70. The Morning After

Lotus’s POV

Mornings in the Winter Pack are always gray and cold, but today seems worse. If the sun has risen over the trees, I can’t tell because of the smoke that is drifting through the air. The crisp smell of snow has been replaced by smoke and blood.

The Great Hall is unrecognizable. The floor is cracked and shards of glass glitter among the puddles of melted frost. The banners that once hung proudly are torn and stained red.

I walk through it slowly, trying to understand how Alpha Alister can hate so much that he would cause this kind of chaos. I can’t tear my eyes away from the reminders of what happened. Bodies are wrapped in white linen. Some are still moving, while others are gone. The healers move between them, trying to save who they can.

Lennox’s voice carries across the hall. “Double the perimeter guard. No one enters or leaves the palace without my mark.”

Levi stands beside him, his arm bound in fresh bandages. Louis moves among th