The sun was already sinking behind the western trees when the call spread through the packhouse that everyone was expected in the main clearing, and by the time I stepped outside the long shadows across the grass made the entire place feel like a stage where something ugly was about to happen.
Word moved fast in a pack. Faster when trouble was coming. Groups of wolves had already gathered near the edge of the clearing, and the quiet conversations happening between them dropped off the moment I walked past.
That silence followed me like a f*****g shadow. Some wolves nodded to me. Others avoided looking at me entirely.
The divide was becoming impossible to ignore. Three days until the Alpha challenge. Three days until Ezra faced his father in front of the entire pack.
And tonight Alpha J
