Wolves of Verona

The empire has fallen. Now kings want the roads it left behind. Northern Italy, AD 488. Twelve years after Cassian Drusus helped build a refuge beyond Rome's command, the Pact has become a home worth defending-and a route worth taking. When his son Paulus brings displaced families through the mountain passes, Cassian opens the gates to more people than the stores can easily feed. Odoacer's envoy offers patrols and protection. Across the frontier, Theodoric's advance promises another war. Both sides need the Pact's roads. Then families under its protection begin to disappear. Someone is turning the records that keep people fed into a means of finding and seizing them. Paulus follows the missing through hostile country. Roderic faces an offer from his Gothic kin. And Cassian, trained to answer danger with command, risks breaking the very law he swore to defend. As armies close on the valley, rescue means cut harness, false signals, and a narrow crossing that must stay open. Cassian knows how to hold a position. Saving his people may demand something harder. Wolves of Verona is Book II of The Frontier of Ashes, continuing The Iron Frontier in a historical adventure of pursuit, divided loyalty, and survival after Rome.