The Silverfang courtyard filled slowly with wolves gathering for the morning assembly. Mira stood near the outer circle of the crowd, deliberately avoiding the raised stone platform where the Alpha usually addressed the pack. She kept her hands folded in front of her and her posture steady, even though the weight of yesterday’s council judgement pressed heavily against her chest and was unstable.
The word lingered in her thoughts, and pack members whispered around her; some voices sounded sympathetic, while others carried suspicion, but Mira pretended not to hear them. At the center of the courtyard, Ryker stepped on the stone platform, and the murmurs stopped immediately. Authority radiated from him without effort; his presence alone created silence across the gathering.
Mira felt the b
