WITH SINSA’S WORDS, the tide of All-Pack shifted in our favor. Later, I would learn that Brooks’ request to secede from the region three years prior had been squashed by a very astute round of blackmail on Stormwinder’s part. Unlike many parents of bloodlings, Brooks hadn’t relinquished his infant daughter willingly—instead, the pup had been spirited away during the turmoil surrounding her mother’s death. So when Stormwinder professed to have discovered the missing daughter’s location, Brooks hadn’t been willing to take a chance on the Tribunal member harming his lost child, not for the sake of mere political maneuverings.
Instead, despite his relative strength, Brooks had stepped aside from statecraft at that time, allowing my mate’s mentor to take the lead in his place. Later, the mourn
