CHAPTER 171
The grey, bruised light of dawn bled over the horizon, doing little to illuminate the mist-shrouded valley of the Blackstone Pack.
Usually, this hour was filled with the sounds of the morning patrol's return and the some wolf training but today, the air felt stagnant, caught in the throat of the valley like a scream that couldn't quite find its way out.
The massive timber of the Blackstone pack house loomed over the clearing, its windows reflecting the dull, sunless sky.
In the wide, gravel expanse at the front of the manor, the atmosphere was thick enough to choke. A small, uneasy crowd of high-ranking pack members had gathered, their breath hitching in the cold air.
They stood in clusters, their voices hushed, their eyes constantly darting toward the southern trail that led into the deeper, darker reaches of the forest—the trail that led toward Alaric's private cabin.
At the center of the tension stood Selena,
