Liam leaned back in his chair, his expression dark.
"We suspect Adler will choose the Ashen Field," he said, his voice grave.
"The Ashen Field?" I asked, testing the name on my tongue. It sounded like a graveyard.
"It is neutral ground," he explained, "but cursed. Wolves cannot shift there. Centuries ago, a great war was fought on that soil. Thousands died in the dead of winter. The ground was frozen solid, so they couldn't bury the dead. Instead, they burned them."
He looked at me, his eyes haunted. "They burned the bodies until the earth itself turned grey. It is sacred ground now. A monument to death."
"But you can fight there?" I asked, horrified.
"Only one kind of fight is permitted on the Ashen Field," Liam said quietly. "A duel to the death. No shifting. No pack interference.
