like a slap. Snow drifted through the air above her, swirling like ash. Dozens of faces stared down from the raised ter

she wasn'

monster

seven ancient wolves, each older than stone, each wrapped in cloaks woven fr

the seat of ju

d, his gaze locked on her with the sa

rt beat like a war drum. She felt the chai

n that morni

war

wor

frozen steps into the cliffs above the palace. No time

he wolves who could end he

echoed f

ou have been brought before

e oldest of the seven. His voice was c

Bloodshed. Illegal transform

lowed his wo

ed hard. "I d

ly when addressed,

. Her hands

is not one of us. She carries the mark, yes, but she was raised ou

r. Her hair was white as bone, her

le continued. "We do not k

line is unproven. Her transformation was uncalled,

lee

stand-but her gut

slowly fro

fell int

ing. Not under guidance. But during the full moon. Alone.

growled. S

She was caught only becaus

walking down the carved

didn't

ow only a few feet away. "She claims ignor

up at th

the first ste

cracked throug

't choo

tur

sed me like a human. I thought the stories were myths. I didn't want to hur

led throug

ression di

nocent," he said flatly.

d. Her hands clench

ld speak again, Th

l face the Ri

ing wen

the

" someone

t survive

Tharion, then g

tween them. "Wh

idn't

hario

the wolf inside you can be cont

ds hang in the

will

hrough a tunnel of

sts clinked. She could hear chanting behind the walls, which sounded like

t. Torches lined the walls now, burning with blue fire. Strange runes

?" she asked agai

guard

ard the growls echoing deeper in the dark-low and

she found herself in a

trial court-but this place

the floor. No audience. No council. Just th

s threw h

d hard on

d to the ground

the gate

toward it, he

ened