Chapter 163

Viona's POV

The great hall had never felt so suffocating.

Every banner was raised high, the sigils of each pack rippling faintly in the draft. The elders sat stiff-backed at the long table, their faces drawn with equal measures of suspicion and pride. Betas lingered near their alphas, whispers darting from lip to ear like restless sparks. The entire place hummed with tension, a storm straining to break free.

They had all gathered at dawn, answering the summons none of us had ...