er

as granted one immediately, her summons finding me before my

nting ground. Blake was with her, of course, a decorative viper coiled at her

rvice. "Tea, Eller? I'm sure you cou

, my voice polite but f

ed eyebrow. "You've come to g

ve."

mile playing on her lips. "We'll take

n the room. I let the silence hang for a moment, savoring the shift in

edith, I must respectfully

attled against its saucer. Blak

e was dangerously low. "Yo

at surprised even myself. "However, I have an alternative proposal. One that will u

ervation were the only languages Meredith tru

e moment. T

ith your late, heroic stepson," I said, each

onated a bomb that sucked all the air out. Meredith and Blak

angled, hysterical sound escaped he

with a righteous gravity I didn't feel. "He died a hero, for this pack. His bloodline, the main

betrayal and elevated it to a matt

the Dawsons, fulfilled. Chace and Blake, free to be together. And me? Safely married to a dead man, neutralized as a threat, w

vel, that this was a threat. "Mrs. Meredith,you can't let her do th

k on them. "To raise his ghost from the grave? I am simply a grieving woma

red the final,

decided by us alone," I said, my tone deferential. "It should be presented to Alpha Ar

to her dead son's memory. And she knew, just as I did, what the Elders would say. They were old, tradi

to a white line. She was f

ped out. "I will pres

my head. I turned and walked out, leaving th

ke's shriek. "She's trying to s

ped through the pack's uppe

was a stark contrast to Chace's faithless actions. They saw a young woman willing to sac

valued strength and st

s made. I would

wood Capital. Overnight, the narrative shifted. Chace and Blake were no longer

han, was suddenly a figure of tragic

s only to the dead of my own pack.