Ashra's point of view)
"He's dead."
My courier delivered the words flatly, kneeling in the shadow of the safehouse I'd kept hidden three days' ride from Blackthorn's border. I didn't look up from the map spread across the table.
"I'm aware," I said. "I watched the execution myself, from a considerably safer distance than you'd have managed."
"Then why send me to confirm it?"
"Because confirmation and observation aren't the same thing," I said. "I need to know exactly how the pack responded. Grief. Fury. Relief. The particular flavor of their reaction tells me how quickly Marcus rebuilds trust with his own council."
The courier hesitated. "Alpha Marcus led the execution personally. No hesitation. The council stood behind him fully."
I set down my pen. That wasn't the answer I'd hoped
