Queen Tanaia’s name did not leave the room, but it did not need to.
It sat between Derek and me like a third presence. Heavy. Watchful.
By morning, the estate was already shifting. Messages were sent. Guards doubled. Council members arrived earlier than planned. The pack moved with quiet urgency, voices low, eyes alert. Nothing had happened yet, and already everything was changing.
Derek did not give me time to retreat into my thoughts.
“You’ll sit in on every meeting today,” he said as we walked toward the council chamber. “You’ll listen. You won’t speak unless I tell you to.”
I glanced at him. “And if I disagree?”
“Then you’ll learn when disagreement helps and when it destroys,” he replied.
His tone was firm, controlled. Distant. But there was something else under it now. Purpose
