HANNI POV

The adjoining room was a smaller, softer room away from the loud busy hall. The air was so thick with scented candles and sweet perfumes. A circle of powerful she-wolves, Luna who had ruled for years, watched me enter with Luna Selene and my heart hammered consistently against my ribs.

“Come, child, sit,” said an older Luna with kind eyes. “You survived the gathering of Alphas.”

I managed to smile weakly and took a seat beside her. Then the small talk around me was a blur. They spoke about the quality of the wine. The strange intense heat. The ladies of the East Dwellers weavers who made my...