LERRIN

It was different than the time before. There was no false distraction in her, no attempt to avoid or deflect. By the time he had farewelled the last of the security council it was time for lunch and he turned, expecting to ask her to bring their meals back to the camp because he hoped, like him, she would want some minutes without others nearby, to discuss what they had talked about the night before. And the… implications of it.

But when he turned from the tent flap and come back to help her with the chairs, she didn't even bother to continue stacking them. She flipped her hood back and fixed him with a hard, flinty-eyed glare.

Somehow she was even more beautiful when she was angry.

"What?

" he said through his teeth, not appreciating the sudden chill in his stomach. He was Alpha. King. Pack leader. She was a devoted servant. She should not even feel free to look him in the eye.

He was so glad she did.

And, apparently, much more than that.

She stalked up to him, eyes flashing and stood right at his toes. He opened his mouth to speak, but her voice appeared in his head, crystal clear again in a way he'd never experienced with another wolf outside his immediate family.

Your purpose is to bring the wolves to their best. You truly believe firing the City is the step towards that goal?

I told you, when my people are at risk I will not close a door until I am certain I do not need it.

Really? Then what is next, Lerrin? Because you know, don't you, that to approach from the west means needing the bear's territory—and what do you think Craye will then determine is necessary for the wolves to approach without raising alarm?

We have other options—the birds, first of all—

She snorted. You make yourself small by even entertaining this plan and you know it. Do not let yourself believe Craye has not raised these two approaches separately because he did not think of the link. That male has a plan and he is using you to work it.

Lerrin bared his teeth. I do not make myself small for anyone, Suhle. Not even you.

She tipped her head and for a moment her expression softened.

"Yes, you do,

" she said quietly. Then the flames lit in her eyes again and she sent, I saw the grief in you. I saw you recoil from this. Why do you not tell your males how you choose to rule? Why do you not make yourself the leader they need?

"You think I am not?

" he snarled, looming over her.

"That is exactly what I'm doing!

"

"No, you are not.

" She bit the words off. Then she sent the cutting blow. There is little point saving the wolves if it is only to make them the villains in Reth's story.

Lerrin felt like he'd been torn in two, the inner conflict so extreme it stole his breath. On the one hand, rage roared within him, a bonfire hot and tall, ready to remove anything in its path.

On the other, grief and pain and fear because those words… those were words he'd spoken himself to his father when his father was Dominant. Less than a year earlier he'd stalked alongside Lucan, returning home after a Security Council meeting with Reth in which he'd been forced to submit, and humiliated. He'd voiced their concerns about the Queen not taking her King to Mate and he'd been put down…

"…You have been heard, wolf,

" Reth had snarled, his voice guttering in a growl.

"Now hear me: I welcome a challenge from any male in this city. If you believe yourself stronger than me, smarter, better able to lead, you just say the word and I'll happily meet you in the circle. We will decide dominance the way the Anima always have. But do not think to undermine me through lies and plots. Take great care in seeding doubt through whispers, or you may find the ground underneath you crumbling.

"

Lerrin hadn't responded, just stood, tense. His nostrils flared at the scent wafting off of Reth—the sheer dominance, the aggression. All the men in the room shifted at the stink of their King's displeasure and certainty in himself.

When Reth didn't continue, Lerrin bowed and finally took a step back.

"You are heard and understood,

" he said stiffly. He wouldn't challenge the King like this. He had still, so naively, believe Reth to be the better ruler. How wrong he had been.

Reth had stepped forward again, chin down and poised to fight, and muttered,

"Do not allow Lucine's failure to bring down the entire pack, Lerrin. You're smarter than that—and I'm not dumb enough to miss how she'll try to seek revenge. If one hair on my Queen's head is harmed by a wolf, the entire pack will pay in my discipline. Do you understand?

"

"Yes.

" Lerrin spat.

"Yes, what?

"

"Yes, Majesty.

"

Reth snorted air out of his nose—an insult among the Anima that implied the person's scent was offensive.

"Leave this council and pass my message on to your people. Now.

"

Lerrin bowed again and turned on his heel, leading the other two wolf-males out of the room.

They had walked straight out to find his father waiting on the trail.

Lucan, the wolf dominant, Alpha, and Pack Leader of the Lupine tribe, had reassured Lerrin that the challenge better came from him. If he were successful, he gained in the hierarchy. If he wasn't, the tribe didn't suffer because their leader had been dominated.

They had argued then, storming along the path, deep into the forest, leaving the others behind. His father had been grooming him for leadership his entire life. Whenever these difficult interactions cropped up, it was his habit to walk through it with Lerrin, to explain his thinking and challenge Lerrin to see his own way through.

But this time… this time he hadn't been teaching. He'd been seething. He hated the Queen with a fire that Lerrin had never seen in him before. Knowing that Reth threatened the entire tribe if harm came to her made Lucan so angry he shook.

"It would be a simple thing to take her, a sniper above the cave, a dash of poison on her tray from the kitchens. The King would not be so quick to threaten then, when she fell at his feet dead and nothing he could do about it,

" his father had said.

And, chillingly to Lerrin, he'd smiled.