Lynn's POV
The room doesn't explode. It holds—one suspended second where every Alpha recalculates—and then comes apart.
Western Alliance wolves step in, and they're not polite about it.
"Ravencrest belongs to no one," one of Dominic's senior men says, his voice cracking through the air. "But if bloodline history is what we're talking about—the West has centuries friendship with that line. Centuries. What does the East have? A dissolved contract and a grudge they've been nursing since before half the people in this room were born."
"Oh, that's rich—" an Eastern wolf starts.
"She's not a prize," Dominic's man cuts back. "She's not a debt settlement. And if any of you act like she is one more time tonight, we're going to have a different kind of conversation."
"Back off," an Eastern wol
