The silence inside the council hall lasted several long seconds after Ryker issued the challenge. Every wolf present understood the weight of what he had said. The blood law was older than the council itself. It existed for moments when authority could no longer be settled through debate or politics. When invoked properly, the outcome could not be overturned.
Halric remained on the platform, staring down at Ryker.
The elder’s face revealed nothing for several seconds, but tension tightened along his jaw. He had pushed the pack toward confrontation, yet the form that confrontation had taken now placed him directly in the center of it.
Mira stood near the back of the hall, and she could feel the shift moving through the room. Some wolves looked at Halric with expectation; others watched R
