“You abandoned him?” Bryce’s voice was sharp, disbelief written all over his face.
The murmurs rippled through the pack gathered in the hall. Their trust was fragile, their gazes heavy with judgment. The weight of their doubt pressed against my chest, but I refused to let it crush me.
“We didn’t abandon him,” I said firmly, my voice steady despite the knot in my throat. “We made a tactical retreat to save lives. Draven is still alive, and we will get him back.”
“Do you have any idea where they're holding him?” one of the senior warriors demanded.
“We tracked them to the eastern cliffs,” Kieran, my second-in-command, cut in. “But the place is heavily fortified. We’d need an army to breach it.”
The tension in the room thickened. I felt their fear—our leader was gone, and doubt gnawed at
