Aisha's POV
The air inside the council chamber was thick with tension—and fur. The analogy was spot on, everyone was tense in their seats and were keeping their anxiety in check in order not to fill this place with pheromones.
Shifters of every kind filled the long wooden table, their scents competing in the closed space: tiger, hawk, bear, lynx, and of course, wolf. There were even two vampire representatives, standing stiff and silent in the shadows of the back wall, clearly uneasy being so far from their coven lands without the promise of blood-bound neutrality. But the fact that they were here at all meant everything was changing.
Simon stood at the head of the table, tall and resolute, his gaze sweeping over the gathered leaders.
"Thank you all for coming," he began, his
