ra

state's entrance mere

vy front doors and wa

kled in the larg

f his cloak. He looked up and smiled, hi

ate," he said,

and walked

released his sce

e pine needles

nt to calm their Mate, to make t

the cloying frag

. I stood in the center of

he Ancestral Crypts

on my tongue, a small, sharp pain to anchor the tremor in my finger

His smile faltered for

a flicker of anno

ack politics, Elara. Selene's family controls the northern silver route. The Council has been demanding I

r's ashes nineteen

eyes and walked

ave him moved back next week. Do not

eated, the word a p

Selene's pack, for the

s eyes flashed with a dang

aking?" he demanded, his v

e records

he banquet. The two of you, celebrat

shed with a dar

e, his physical siz

ck, Elara! It is time you grew up!" he shouted. "Her family posse

my father's grav

rossing his arm

our days among tombstones and forget w

his tone dripp

lection of old bones. It is not as

earth-fire suddenly magnified tenfold in my ears, a roaring

oar erupted i

my Inne

it uncoiled within me, a vast and ancient c

room grew hea

turning from orange to an eerie, silver-white before gu

a mask of confusion at the sudde

White Wolf. He thought

lickering behind his golden eyes for

grave," I said, my voice now

allowed a foreign entity to defile holy

cruel sound, but it w

elieve the Council will not overlook a

id quietly. "Not the egos of ambitious fools

an I once thought

thought of eating the food h

my back

e when I am speaking!" he barked, a

s lower-ranking wolves t

my knees and silenced my tongue. It found no purchase. The White Wolf did n

d down the hall, and

avy oak door shu

wood from the outs

red th

a candle, and pulled out

ing, but my mind w

e a plan. I wr

lawsuit a

achment of the C

petition fo

most painful ritual a

tearing of

parchment, I knew I

eaking every bone in your body to slip throu