The vote is seventeen to eleven.
Restricted movement. Revoked operational access. Pending a formal review of last night's "power discharge incident," as the resolution language puts it. Until the review concludes, I am confined to the residential and library wings, excluded from strategy sessions, and required to have a pack member present whenever I leave my quarters.
Seventeen to eleven.
Mara tells me the count. I wasn't in the room.
"Who voted against?" I ask.
"Caleb. Fen — which surprised people." She counts on her fingers. "Six junior council members, mostly from the younger cohort who were in the south quad last night. Three more from factions who've been neutral until now."
"And Damon?"
"He abstained," she says.
"He—" I stop.
"He stated that as Alpha he had a conflict of in
