12
For two days a strange storm raged over the center of the island. The pack scouts reported that it centered over the place of the Corpse King. The entire pack made ready for another battle, but left the four of us alone. Arne and Erik made no mention of what the pack had done to punish them, but apparently their suffering had been great enough that they didn’t link with me for fear of the pain spilling through the bond.
“The pack law must be satisfied. Any wolf who steps out of bounds opens himself to discipline or banishment,” Gunnr told me. “We knew that when we took you.”
“Will you be punished?” I asked him.
“No,” he said. “Being a wolf for as long as I was is punishment enough.”
I’d slept every night in his arms. My mates cared for me as they had before, and I thrived.
Hazel
