The sound of burning flesh lingered in the hall. For a moment, everything else disappeared beneath it. The clash of voices faded. The struggle between wolves stilled. Even the tension that had been tearing the pack apart seemed to pause.
Mira did not scream.
Her body locked against the pain as the heated iron pressed into her shoulder. Every nerve reacted at once, but she refused to give the hall the reaction it expected.
The warrior held the brand in place for only a few seconds. Then he pulled it away, but the mark remained. The skin along Mira’s shoulder had darkened and split under the heat. The symbol of a traitor had been carved into her flesh in front of the entire pack.
The silence that followed felt heavier than the chaos that came before.
Ryker stopped struggling. The wolves
