The hall was silent except for the creaking of insects, flickering fluorescent bulbs lining the stone walls. The council chamber of Redmoon was designed to intimidate—an amphitheater of judgment where the Alpha’s chair towered above all others, carved in black oak and flanked by banners of blood-red cloth. Every time I stepped into this room, I felt like prey cornered by predators. Tonight, it was worse.

All eyes were on me.

I stood in the center of the room, my hands still trembling ...