The apothecary ledger arrived under three seals. Frostmere. Ashfall. Riverbend. No Blackthorn seal. No White Moon seal. That was the first thing I checked. The second was the date. Three days before the Council dinner.

Marin laid the copied page beside the original V

The priest entered under neutral guard. I recognized him immediately. Three years had thinned his face and silvered his beard, but memory did the rest. The ceremonial blade in his hand.

His voice over the altar. If the Alpha interrupts a severing after the first cut, the

Alaric's chair was still empty when the emergency assembly began. No one removed it. I was glad. An empty chair could say more than a new one filled too quickly.

The old Council benches held eleven Elders instead of twelve. Some looked angry. Some looked frightened.

Sev