When the man stood in front of him, Harris first took note of the way he held his sword. The broad-chested man's grip on it was tight but imbalanced, and he saw this. Perhaps weeks of intensive training had done him better than he believed it would.

Harris had been carefully and brutally training with the wolves since he arrived. He knew that the only way he would not be thrown into the streets is if he could impress the chief, Jesse Wyatt.

The man had said he would be present to ...