POV: Isla Reid
Location: The Rookeries
Time: Same Week
I'm treating a wound when I hear the commotion outside. Shouting. Crying. Someone's in trouble.
I step outside the shelter. See crowd gathered around a wolf. Young male. Maybe twenty. He's holding stolen food. Bread, cheese, some fruit. Maybe ten pounds worth.
Bill Bolter's there. Angry. "You stole from my supply cache. That's packless code violation. Pay back double or get exiled."
"I can't pay back. I don't have money. I was starving." The young wolf's voice is desperate. "I haven't eaten in four days. I just. I needed food."
"Then you starve. That's Rookeries. You don't steal from other packless. That's the only rule we have." Bill signals his enforcers. "Take the food back. Beat him. Make sure everyone knows theft has conseq
