~KAEL'S POV~
The announcement went as well as I'd expected, which is to say it didn't go well.
Derik and two of the senior council members stood before the crowd in the main square, the whole pack gathered, as was tradition for decisions that affected everyone, and laid it out plainly. The threat. The intelligence. The rogue movement. Selara's name and what her name meant. The alliance with Silverclaw and Moonveil, already formalised, already signed.
The silence afterward lasted about four seconds.
Then a man in the third row, stocky, mid-forties, one of the longer-standing pack members whose opinion other people tended to follow, crossed his arms and spoke.
"That's unacceptable," he said.
His name was Corren. He'd been in Shadowfang his entire life and he knew how to pitch his voice to carry.
"Unacceptable," someone behind him agreed.
"Alliance with Moonveil." Another voice, incredulous. "They've been on the other side of every border dispute we've had for many years."
