ss

l stank of smok

voices cut through the air like blades. They spoke with the slow, deliber

His gnarled hand tapped the table with rhythmic insistence. "Formally. Publicly.

ago, Thalia had stood there, shoulders squared, chin high, defiant even as the Council passed j

said quietly, vo

y. "By omission. You didn't name her. You didn't warn the pack. You let them think she was nothing. Now we

a," Cassian cut in,

said, voice cold and edged wit

romised he

ollowed. Even the flickeri

, slow and deliberate. "I'

ed. "Then what the

curled at his

h a search party and an apology? You marked her, you bit her without a clai

bring her back. And I'll give the Cou

, lip curling. "And

wavering. "Proof that sh

-

al

er than she

were ragged but clean, dark hair pulled back in a leather tie, and a faded scar ran from the corner of his lip down

e rough as gravel. "Didn't think the healer's daug

ch. "I didn't come

ia

ned on the stra

you?" s

boots silent on the mos

moment it left his mouth, the

sessing prey. "You're the one the

"You don't know

name. I know the mark on your shoulder wasn't just instinct

d. "What d

ur mother wasn't from there. Not

harp crack across the fragile na

ered. "My mothe

each his eyes. "So was I. Be

-

ss

his skin was already splitting, bones lengthening,

ing through branches and brush like a shadow given f

efore. Like a whisper buried under cen

llow, where even the most seasoned warriors refused to ventu

dn't

splashed through streams, dodged tangled roots like they were old enemies.

e caught i

d. Free of pe

nearly

man form just beyond a crumbling archway ch

was

iv

not

-

al

r never t

nded by her feet. Dried meat, wrapped in waxed linen. "She left the Syndica

ers trembled as she picked it up. Her

first. Then I'll show you what M

t was salty, smoky, surprisingly tender.

cate," she said

dden. We don't serve packs. We don't bow to Councils or bloodlines.

d m

her daughter. That means you're o

he food did nothing to chase t

t ask fo

e bitten either, did

hem. A silence loud

-

ss

e ruins jus

spered in stories to fri

oss and decay. Crumbling stones. Shattered w

are feet silent on the e

was

beside

tra

. Too com

t clenched. Hi

rd, the sound de

ali

torm. Fear. Hurt. Anger. A flicker of

it wa

ing like the girl who'd once reached for

," she

ian. Not

t A

r than claws

-

al

like a

gy. Just presence. W

ace smeared with dirt and sweat. His eyes burned wi

ring you hom

"There's no hom

closer. "

me in front of them. Then you stood there while t

ke," he said, h

em break me

ke snowfall. He

loose-limbed, but the tens

er my prot

ped toward him. "Wh

aw her value b

instantly. Two a

ng between them. "I don't need two m

ed, just slightly. "T

him. The forest a

eed