“Enough!" Marta's gavel cracked wood and nerves. “Shift back!"
Two wolves bristled in front of the dais. Albert's growl thrummed the floor; Taylor's bared fangs promised history would repeat if it got the chance.
“Alpha Taylor," Wren barked, losing his lemon neatness, “this is a hearing."
Nolan stepped in, palm out. “Taylor—eyes on me."
For a heartbeat, Taylor looked—man glinting behind the wolf. He shuddered, bones unknitting with a wrenching sound. Fur slid into skin. He stood, chest heaving, eyes bloodshot and full of things he would never file. Albert shifted after a beat, deliberate, as if to prove he obeyed no one's command but his own. He came up grinning a little, which didn't help anyone breathe easier.
“Recess," Marta snapped. “Fifteen minutes. Guards—escort the Clerk to ver
