We follow the crowd inside and I try not to gape at the interior because it’s massive. The ceiling has to be at least thirty feet high with exposed wooden beams and there’s a fireplace against one wall that’s big enough to walk into.
Pack members file in and take seats on benches and chairs that line the walls and I’m left standing with everyone staring and I’ve never felt more exposed in my life.
Elder Blackwood settles into a high-backed chair at the far end of the hall that looks less like furniture and more like a throne and he studies me with the kind of cold look that makes me want to shrink into myself.
“Tell me, human.” The way he says human makes it sound like an insult. “What makes you believe you’re worthy of an Alpha?”
“I don’t—” I start but he holds up one hand and I stop
