Sebastian's POV
The elders' hall smelled like old wood and older opinions.
There were five of them seated along the curved stone table when I entered. Elder Doran at the centre, grey-haired and sharp-eyed, with the particular expression of someone who had already made a decision and was performing the discussion as courtesy. I knew that expression well. I had been seeing it my whole life.
I sat across from them and waited.
Doran spoke first. He always did. "We will not draw this out, Alpha. The human girl has been on pack grounds for over three weeks now. The pack is divided. The illness has taken another two wolves this month. The situation is untenable."
"The situation," I said, "is managed."
"It is a disruption," Elder Vessa said from the far left. She was the oldest of them and t
