The council hall smelled of burning incense and polished stone, a place that had held the secrets, ambitions, and schemes of the pack for centuries. Evelyn’s heart pounded violently as she stepped across the cold floor, escorted by two silent guards. The whispers of her recent displays of power had reached every corner of the pack, and now she was being summoned under the guise of an “assessment.”
She glanced nervously at Lucien, standing at the edge of the forest, hidden from view. The bond pulsed in her chest like a living thing, his presence threading into her thoughts, calm and controlled. Breathe. Do not falter. I am here, he whispered, voice flowing directly into her mind, a comfort she could not explain but clung to like a lifeline.
---
The elders sat in a semicircle, ancient fac
