I lifted Elara from the altar and carried her out of the ruins. By the time we reached the keep, my hands and clothes were marked with ritual blood.
Pack members stepped away as I crossed the courtyard toward the Grand Temple.
Some stared at the woman I had stripped of her title; others lowered their eyes when they saw how still she was in my arms.
I carried her to the Vow Stone where she had tried to free herself from me.
Her head rested on the altar's obsidian block, and the dead bond gave me no sign that she knew where she was.
Then I opened the pack mind-link to every rank at once.
“**Every member of the Bloodmoon Pack, come to the temple now. Omegas, warriors, Elders. All of you.**”
They filled the hall until the last rows had to stand near the doors. Whispers moved through the
