Angus sits alone in the corner booth of the Bear’s Den, the same one every night. The scar across his jaw, pale and thin, catches the dim light when he tilts his head to drink. Twenty years haven’t dulled the memory of smoke and silver, the final howls of his pack swallowed by the cold laughter of the vampire lord, Valerius. Now, the Den’s familiar smells of stale beer, pine, and mortal sweat are the closest thing he has to a territory. He watches the other patrons—laughing, arguing, living—with the detached patience of a predator, knowing the moon’s pull is a private burden. The bartender, an old grizzly shifter named Gus, slides another whiskey his way without a word. It’s a silent understanding. Here, Angus isn’t a relic of a lost war; he’s just another lonely soul marking the passage of another night.