Emily's POV
The council meeting ran until the torches burned low.
The atmosphere of the war room was stuffy, and the odor of it was tainted with the metallic aroma of tension and the acrid smell of guttering tallow. The room had been hours a battleground of words, egos, and desperate tactics. I had seen the faces of the elder members of the pack turn pale under the flickering light as the truth of the ultimatum of Claus dawned on them. The burden of seventeen days was a tangible thing, falling on all shoulders, suffocating all breathing.
By the time the last elder had left the war room, and the last patrol rotation had been reassigned, and the last decision on the eastern fortifications taken, the keep was deep in its night stillness. The wind outside had blown up to a continuou
